49^ 
H3Z 



lementaky 
Agriculture 

William Lewis NiDA 



A.FlanaganOdmpany 




Class 5>4'=tS- 

Book bLS.2i_ 

copigtiti^" \')n 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




Fig. 1. Every stock farm needs its shade and water easily accessible. 



Elementary 
Agriculture 



By 
William Lewis Nida, Ph. B. 

Superintendent of Schools, 
River Forest, III. 



A. Flanagan Company 

CHICAGO 






COPyRTGHT 1913. 1915. 1917, BY A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 



0.71 
MAY 12 1917 

©CIA40l)7r6 



PREFACE 

If country boys and girls are to be kept on the farm, it 
is incumbent on parents and school authorities to enlist 
their interest in scientific farming and stock raising at the 
earliest possible age. A text on Agriculture for grade or 
rural schools should, therefore, begin with a discussion of 
farm animals, because it is vastly easier to stir up enthu- 
siasm among children over the raising of fine stock than it 
is over soil elements or even fine crops. 

Many texts have reversed this order, because certain 
farmers' organizations have so recommended. However, if 
education is our object, the child mind should receive first 
consideration in presenting any subject. 

The author was born and reared on an Ohio farm and 
taught in rural schools for several winters. He was later 
a supervisor of township schools. His knowledge of actual 
farm life and rural schools on the one hand, and of the 
child on the other, is offered in explanation of this attempt 
to place before the children of the common schools a simple 
and stimulating introduction to scientific farming. 

Grateful acknowledgments are due to the U. S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture for a number of fine photographs and 
for much valuable material from which the author has 
drawn freely. The author and publishers also desire to 
express thanks to the Agricultural Extension Department 
of the International Harvester Company for a number of 
fine plates and half tones chiefly of animals and farm 
scenes, selected by the author, and for valuable sugges- 
tions. To others who have kindly aided us with photo- 
graphs, credit has been given in the body of the book. 

William L. Nida. 



CONTENTS 

Part I. Farm Animals 

PAGES 

CHAPTER I. THE HORSE 1-15 

Taming the Wild Horse — Horses Introduced in America — 
Draft Horses — Coach Horses — Roadsters — Use and Care of 
Horses — Breaking the Colt 

CHAPTER II. CATTLE 16-28 

Taming of Cattle— The Ox at Work— Beef Cattle— Dairy 
Cows — Building Up a Fine Herd 

CHAPTER III. MILK AND BUTTER 29-33 

Milk as Food — Care of Milk — Butter-fat — Churning — 
Cheese-making — By-products 

CHAPTER IV. SHEEP 34-38 

Origin of Sheep — Their Care— Merinos — Mutton Types 

CHAPTER V. SWINE 39-48 

Improving the Hog — Bacon and Lard Types — Berkshires, 
Chester- Whites, Duroe-Jerseys, Poland-Chinas — Feeding 
and Care — Diseases 

CHAPTER VI. POULTRY 49-57 

Origin of Chickens — Value to the Farmer — Kinds and Uses 
of Fowls — Their Care and Feeding — The Young Brood — 
Poultry Pests 

CHAPTER VII. TURKEYS, DUCKS, AND GEESE 58-60 

Raising Turkeys — Ducks on the Farm — Geese 
CHAPTER VIII. INSECTS 61-67 

Insect Enemies — Insect Friends — Parts of an Insect — Biting 
Insects— Sucking Insects — Insect Growth— Larva Stage — 
Pupa Stage — Life of Insects 

CHAPTER IX. THE BEE 68-76 

The First Sugar Makers— Taming the Bee— Making Honey 
—The Bee Family— Care of the Bees for Profit— Other 
Services of Bees 

CHAPTER X. BIRDS 77-83 

Birds of Killingworth-^Service to Farmers— Grosbeaks- 
Protecting Crops — Paying Their Way 



CONTENTS 
Part II. Soils and Farm Crops 

PAGES 

CHAPTER XL SOILS 84-95 

What Soil Is— Kinds of Soil— Humus— Plant-foods— Liquid 
Food for Plants— Importance of Water in Soil— Drainage 
—Tiling— Bacteria in Soil— Rotation of Crops— Different 
Systems of Rotation 

CHAPTER XIL PLANTS AND HOW THEY GROW 96-102 

Parts of the Plant— The Work of Roots— The Stem- 
Leaves — Flowers — Pollination — Variety in Plant Life — 
Dissemination of Seeds 

CHAPTER XIIL TILLAGE AND FARM MACHINERY AOZ-IU 

Tilling in Ancient Times — Teachings of Jethro Tull— What 
Tillage Does— The Dust Mulch— Dry Farming— Irrigation- 
Better Machinery — Iron Tools 

CHAPTER XIV. CORN 113-125 

Origin of Corn — Importance to the Pioneer — Indian Farm- 
ing—The Corn Belt— Choosing Seed Corn— What Consti- 
tutes a Prize Ear — Curing the Seed — Testing Seed Corn — 
Preparation for the Crop — Getting a Good Stand — Cultiva- 
tion—Harvesting—The Silo — Other Uses of Corn 

CHAPTER XV. WHEAT 126-137 

Origin of Wheat — Introduction of Wheat Into America — 
Kinds of Wheat— The Crop — Wheat in Rotation— Enemies 
of Wheat— Harvesting Tools— Animal Power— The Reaper 
— Self Binder — Combined Harvesters — Uses of Wheat 

CHAPTER XVI. OATS, BARLEY, AND RYE 138-145 

Climate and Soil for Oats — Seeding and Harvesting — Bar- 
ley — Rotation — Enemies — Use — Rye Enemies — Use 

CHAPTER XVIL THE HAY CROP 146-153 

Timothy — Clovers — Harvesting Red Clover — Alsike Clover 
— Alfalfa — Cowpeas 

CHAPTER XVIII. SUGARS AND OTHER CROPS 154-160 

Cutting of Sugar Cane for Seed — Planting Sugar Cane — 
Harvesting — Sugar Beet — Cultivation and Harvesting — Rice 
— Tobacco 

CHAPTER XIX. THE FIELD OR IRISH POTATO 161-167 

Origin of the Potato — A Tuber — Kinds of Seeds — How to 
Choose Seed — Soil and Cultivation — Diseases and Enemies 
— The Sweet Potato 



CONTENTS 

PAGES 

CHAPTER XX. WEEDS 168-171 

Annuals, Biennials, Perennials — Fighting the Weeds — Weeds 
for Drugs 

CHAPTER XXI. ORCHARDS 172-181 

Convenience to Market — Hill Country for Orchards — Best 
Slopes — Influence of Water — Soil — Preparation for Plowing 
— Setting Trees — Tilling the Orchard — Pruning — Spraying — 
Harvesting 

CHAPTER XXII. THE FARM GARDEN 182-200 

The Boy's Experiment Farm — Garden Tools — Mulching — 
Hot Beds — Cold Frames — Transplanting — Peas and Beans — 
Beets, Turnips, Carrots, Parsnips, Radishes — Chard, Aspara- 
gus — Sweet Corn — Cabbage, Lettuce — Cucumbers, Melons, 
Squashes — Onions, Tomatoes, Egg-plant — Grapes — Rasp- 
berries and Blackberries — Strawberries 

CHAPTER XXIII . COUNTRY ROADS 201-212 

Bearing Upon Farmers' Profits — Good Roads and Schools — 
Interest of City People — Working Out the Road Tax — Pay- 
ing Road Taxes in Cash — The Macadam Road — Effect of 
Surface on Loads — Surfacing Clay and Sandy Roads — Loam 
Roads — Brick Roads 

CHAPTER XXIV. PRESERVING FOODS 213-215 

Germs Which Help and Hinder — The Yeast Plant — Making 
Bread — Mold — Canning Fruit — Smoking Meats — Cold Stor- 
age — Preserving Fruits — Bacteria in Butter and Cider 

CHAPTER XXV. FARM SANITATION 216-224 

Water Supply — Sewage and Disease — Mosquitos and Malaria 
—The House Fly and Typhoid— Fighting Flies— Milk a 
Germ Carrier — Ventilating the Bam — Heating and Ventilat- 
ing the Home — Fresh Air in the School Room 

CHAPTER XXVI. THE FARMER'S COLLEGE 225-228 

The Department of Agriculture — Helps from Pamphlets — 
State Experiment Stations — College of Agriculture 

CHAPTER XXVII. BOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUBS 229-238 

Club Movement — Boj's' Corn Clubs — Father and Son Clubs 
—Potato Clubs— Tomato Canning Clubs— The Club and 
School 

Appendix 

Exercises— Problems — Experiments 241-285 

Index 287-294 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

PART I. FARM ANIMALS 
CHAPTER I 
THE HORSE 

Taming the Wild Horse. Who tamed and rode 
the first wild horse and how he did it, we shall never 
know; but it was an important event for mankind. 
It happened long ages ago, before men began to write 
their doings in books. We know that horses lived 
in the time of the cave men, for we find remains of 
horses and rude pictures of them scratched on stone 
in caves and sand drifts. The cave men hunted thes'e 
wild horses for meat and for their skins. 

Variety in Size. The horse was then much smaller 
than he is now. He was about the size of a wild pony. 
The wild horses that came to live in mild climates 
where food was plentiful began to grow larger, with 
heavier limbs and stronger muscles; but those that 
passed into cold, bleak lands where food was scarce, 
grew small like the ponies of the Shetland Islands. 

The Horse's Foot. The bones and fossils of the 
ancient horse show that he was once less than 
twenty-four inches in height. He had a spreading 

1 



2 ELEMENTAKY AGEICULTUKE 

foot with five toes. At that time he lived in low, 
marshy lands, and toes were needed to help him get 
about. As the earth became harder he lost one toe 
after another and so was able to travel faster to 
escape from his enemies. The horse ^s hoof is the 
Qail of the one remaining toe. 

Riding Horseback. The Greeks first drove the 
horse hitched to rude chariots, but later, it is said, 
they learned to ride him without saddle or bridle. 
They invented the first bridle bit, which is called 
the snaffle. Neither Greeks nor Eomans shod their 
horses. At first only kings, nobles, and warriors 
could afford horses. They were used chiefly in war 
and for riding and driving in war chariots. But 
everybody who was able rode horseback; even kings 
looked upon this as the most dignified way to travel. 

The First Work Animal. All this time the farmer 
had only the plow ox or the stubborn ass to help him 
raise his crops. When at last the farmer began to 
use the horse, he did his work much faster, for the 
horse has not only better speed and greater strength 
than the ox, but he can hold out longer. 

The Horse and the Indian. Horses were not found 
in America when the white men first came. The 
Indians were greatly frightened when they saw the 
horses which the Spaniards brought over. They 
thought these animals were terrible monsters. But 
the Indians soon learned to use the horse, and, after 
a time, great herds of horses appeared wild on the 
western plains. 



THE HORSE 



3 



The Big Draft Horse. The time came when men 
began to breed horses for different uses. When they 
wished work horses that could draw very heavy 
loads at a slow pace, they selected the heavy, stout- 
limbed animals that had strong muscles; and by 
using these as parents they reared more like them. 
Gradually the colts of these horses grew stronger 
and larger, and so the draft horse was developed. 







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Fig. 2. A coach horse. 

Coach and Roadsters. Other men wanted horses 
that could pull heavy coaches with good speed. 



ELEMENTARY AGEICULTURE 




Fig. 3. Fcrcheron sialiioii. 

They wanted high knee action and fine style. So 
they kept this kind to breed from and developed the 
coach horse (Fig. 2). Still other men wanted speedy 
horses for light loads, and they reared saddle and 
race horses. 

Kinds of Draft Horses. The draft horse is blocky, 
heavy, and powerful. He may weigh from fifteen 
hundred to two thousand pounds and is in much 



THE HOESE 5 

demand for pulling great loads on city streets. He 
has a round body and rather short legs. His hind 
legs are the stronger, yet he uses his front legs so 
much in pulling that the front quarters are heavy 
and powerful. His breast is broad and his front 
legs far apart. From France we get the Percheron 
(Figs. 3 and 4) draft horse, with a gray, chestnut, 
or black color; from Belgium comes the bay Bel- 
gian; the Shire of bay brown or chestnut color 
comes from England and the smaller but more 
active Clydesdale (Fig. 5) from Scotland. 

How to Hitch a Horse. When a team cannot pull 
a heavy load, it is often because the feet slip. The 
heavier the horse is, the better he can hold with his 
toes. A horse can really pull more on hard or slip- 
pery roads if he has a man on his back. This gives 
him more wei.o-ht and a better foothold. One wav to 





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Fig. 4. Vrize six-horse Percheron team. 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 




Fig. 5. A Clydesdale. 

help a horse pull heavy loads is to put the whiffle- 
tree low down. It is better to have the doubletree 
under the tongue for heavy pulling. A farmer 
once tested this by hitching a horse to a post with a 
spring balance which would show how many pounds 
he pulled. When the whiffletree was tied six inches 
from the ground he pulled six hundred pounds more 
than when it was three feet from the ground. 

Driving Fast. When a horse has a light load and 
is driven for speed, the whiffletree should be high. 
This makes the weight on the horse lighter so there 
is less strain on his legs and feet. Sometimes you 



THE HORSE 



see in the city a two-wheeled carriage with the 
driver sitting high behind. This is called a hansom 
cab. The driver's weight makes the thills pull up 
on the horse and so carries part of the horse's 
weight. This saves his feet greatly in driving upon 
hard pavements. 

Race Horses. The American trotter (Fig. 6) and 
the American saddle horse are the best of their kind 
in the world. Trotters have powerful hind legs and 
good lungs. They have small heads and large nos- 
trils so they can breathe abundance of air (Fig. 7). 



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Fig. 6. American trotting horse (Morgan type). 



8 ELEMENTAEY AGKICULTURE 

Other Uses of the Horse. Among the Tartar tribes 
of northern and central Asia, mare's milk and horse- 
flesh are still used for the food of man. Old horses 
are always fattened for the meat markets of France 
and other countries of Europe. 

Most Horses in America. To-day in Great Britain 
there is one horse to every twenty people ; in France, 
one to every ten people; and in the United States, 
one to every five people. So we have more horses 
in America than there are in any other country, and 
we make them do more of our work. 

Horse Power Cheap. Human labor costs more 
than any other kind of labor, so the farmer has 
learned to use his horses for many purposes. Years 
ago, when harnesses were poor and tools crude, 
many things were done by human hands that are 
now done by horse power. To-day one good horse 
can do as much work as ten men, w^iile his board 
and keep costs about half as much as that of one 
man. 

Doing Forty Men's Work. A farmer boy w^ho 
drives a four-horse team hitched to a gang-plow is 
doing as much work as fort}^ men working with 
hand tools. Four-horse plows and four-horse har- 
rows are very common on the large farms in the 
West. Some of the great harvesting machines em- 
ploy as many as t^Venty or thirty horses and mules 
on a single machine. 

Feeding the Horse. A horse's stomach is small, 
so he cannot use as much bulkv food as a cow. He 



THE HOESE 9 

ought to have at least three good meals every day. 
When a horse is making long trips on the road he 
should not have too much hay, but a richer food, 
like corn or oats. The work horse should have his 
largest meal at night, when he has plenty of time 
to eat and digest it. If a horse is not warm, it is 
better to water before feeding him. The water 
passes on through the stomach and leaves room 
for the food. If an animal is verv warm, it should 




not be given either food or water until it has cooled 
off. Clover hay is not so good for a horse as tim- 
othy, because it is more dusty; and dusty hay is 
liable to give horses the heaves. If dusty hay must 
be used, it should be sprinkled before feeding. 

A Good Variety. It is cruel to feed the horse on 
nothing but oats and hay all the year round, when 



10 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

he would SO much like some barley, beans, peas, 
corn, or turnips for a change. In the United States 
Army a horse is allowed ten quarts of oats a day. 
It is better to feed corn on the cob, as this makes the 
animal eat more slowly and it also improves his 
teeth. When carrots are given, they should be 
sliced to prevent the horse from choking. It is 
important to keep a little salt in his trough. 

Cleaning the Horse. When a horse comes to the 
barn with muddy legs, they should be rubbed down 
or washed, especially in cold weather, to prevent 
rheumatism. Time spent in cleaning and rubbing 
the horse in the evening after the day's work is 
done, is much better for the animal than the same 
time spent in the morning, because the horse will 
rest so much better. 

His Care. When a horse is warm upon stopping 
work in cold weather, he should be blanketed to 
keep him from catching cold. On very cold morn- 
ings the bits should be warmed by dipping them in 
water before bridling the horse. Even cold water 
will keep a frosty bit from freezing to the tongue 
and tearing the skin. Have you ever tried touching 
your tongue to frosty iron? 

Healthy Shoulders. Many farm horses suffer 
from sore shoulders. This need not be so. The 
collar should fit and be kept clean. If there is 
danger of sore shoulders, they should be washed in 
salt water at noon and in the evening. Salt water 
is healing, and it makes the shoulders tough. When 



THE HOESE H 

the team is working hard, the harness ought to be 
removed at the noon hour. The horse should be well 
cleaned every day with a good brush. The curry- 
comb is harsh and painful, especially when used by 
rough hands. 

A Pleasant Home. The horse's home or stable 
sliould be kept clean. It needs to be light, but the 
windows must not be where the horse will look into 
them, for this will injure his eyes, as it does yours 
when you sit facing a window. The horse barn 
should also have good air. If the barn is made very 
warm, a window should always be open where the 
draft will not strike the animals. 

Shoeing the Horse. Many horseshoers do not un- 
derstand their trade, and so they injure the feet of 
the horse. Sometimes they put on shoes that are too 
big, and this stretches the hoof too much. A very 
small shoe pinches and makes corns. Some pare 
the sole too much, and others even use the knife on 
the frog, which is a great injury to the foot. As the 
hoof is growing all the time, just as a man's finger- 
nails grow, the shoes need to be changed often, so 
they will not pinch the foot. 

One Lesson at a Time. In breaking colts it is 
better not to try to teach them too much at one time. 
One of the first lessons is to ''halter-break" the 
young colt. This should be done while he is still 
a suckling. A strong, well-fitting halter is placed 
on him, and he is tied short to a post near to his 
mother. A colt should always be tied firmly, for if 



12 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 




1. Clovp hitch. 

2. Picker rope with a half-granny and a half-hitch. 

3. Bowline : a noose that never slips ; is easily untied. 






4. A slip knot, runninj; noose, or halter knot. 

r>. Becket hitch for joininji a cord and a rope. 

H. Uvi't knot or square knot ; never slips ; easily untied. 

7. False reef or granny ; diflficult to untie ; a bad knot. 

Fig. 8. Knots that every 



THE HOESE 






9 10 

Anchor bend. 

Fixed loop in middle of a cord. 

Weavers' knot or sheet bend, for joining small cords. 
Two half-hitches. 






12 

12. Blackwall hitch. 

13. Carrick bend for joining large ropes. 

14. Timber hitch ; cannot slip or jamb ; easily untied. 
farmer should know. 




14 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

he once breaks loose he has learned a very bad trick 
(Fig. 8). 

His First Bridle. After the colt is halter-broken 
so he can be tied or led, it is a good plan to tie his 
halter to his mother ^s hame or collar. In this way 
he gets used to trotting beside another horse. The 
next lesson is to put on a bridle with a smooth bit. 
An open bridle is better than a "blind" one, for the 
horse ought to see everything about him so he will 
the more quickly get used to the new experience. 

Driving the Colt. A saddle may now be put on, 
or a single harness with crupper and back strap. 
It is a good plan to drive the horse at first without 
a cart. The driver passes the lines through the tug 
or the loop made for the shafts, and in this way 
keeps the animal from whirling suddenly and get- 
ting tangled up in the lines. It is well to have a 
helper lead the colt at first, until he understands 
what is expected of him. 

Driving Double. The colt may now be hitched to 
a cart with long shafts and a kick strap, or he may 
be hitched up with another horse. When this is 
done it is a good plan to keep a pair of single lines 
on the colt's bridle and have these in the hands of a 
helper. In hitching up double, it is well to use a 
heavy wagon with a brake and to put the colt on the 
"off" side. He can now be taught to stop, to back, 
and to start at the proper signal. 

Not Too Many Signals. A horse should be trained 
early to stand still while he is being harnessed and 



THE HOESE 15 

hitched up. Very few words or signals should be 
used, for a horse has far less brains than a dog. 
''Whoa'' should always mean to stop. "Steady" 
is the word when we wish the team to go more 
slowly. "Back" should be used only when we wish 
the team to move backwards. 

Kindness Pays. ' ' The merciful man is merciful to 
his beast," and the well-treated horse repays his 
master's patience and good care. Horses, like all 
farm animals, should be kindly and gently handled. 
Jerking and whipping do harm to the horse, and 
this means a money loss to the farmer. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) How do we know that the horse lived in the cave 
man's time? (2) What were horses first used for? (3) 
What difference did the horse make in the life of the In- 
dian? (4) Why did men want a draft horse? (5) 
What is taking his place in the cities ? (6) Do you think 
that machinery will ever entirely take the place of the 
horse? (7) Why or why not? (8) Are coach horses 
increasing in the city streets or decreasing? (9) Why? 
(10) Why should the horse be hitched low to a heavy 
load? (11) What types of horses have been developed 
m America? (12) Why does a horse need different 
kinds of food? (13) How do you break a colt? (14) 
In what ways is machinery relieving the horse on the 
farm? (15) Make questions of your own on each chap- 
ter. (16) Have the class answer them. 

For exercises, problems and experiments on each chap- 
ter, refer to the Appendix. 



A<'I> CHAPTER II 

rr. r' CATTLE 

More Useful Than Horses. Horses are a great 
help to man, but we could get along without them 
bejtter than without cattle. Cattle supply us with 
meat, leather, and milk; and they may also be yoked 
up for work. 

Where Cattle Came From. Cattle have come 
down to us from a queer animal of the cave man's 
time, called the urus. In those far-off days there 
was also a kind of wild cattle. Some say the herds 
of wild cattle mixed with herds of the urus, and 
this mixture formed the cattle that we have. But 
nobody is very sure about this. We know that the 
cave man hunted and killed wild cattle for meat. 
'■'_.' ^Taming the Wild Cattle. A long time after the 
cave man a higher race of men lived in villages built 
out over the edge of lakes in Switzerland. These 
pieople, called the Swiss lake-dw^ellers, seem to have 
itamed the cow. How do you think they did it? 
They probably kept cows at first for milk only. 
Instead of hunting all the time for food, the people 
began to give some time to their cattle and so 
])ecame herders. 

Churning the First Butter. Then a wonderful dis- 
dovery was made by some one, and that was how to 
make butter from milk. Probably some lake-dweller 

16 



CATTLE 



17 



was carrying upon a journey a skin or leather bag 
of milk, and the motion churned the butter. Milk 
will not keep long without souring, but butter keeps 
much longer. The cow, with her milk, butter, hide. 



mn-:- 




Fig. 9. A beef breed (Shorthonis). 

and meat, must have done a great deal to help these 
ancient people to better ways of living. 

Hitching Cattle to Loads. We do not know when 
cattle were first yoked up and hitched to loads. 
Perhaps a cow was tied by a leather thong, when 
suddenly she made oft through the woods, dragging 
a man or the log to which she was tied. Then some 



18 ELEMENTAEY AGRICULTURE 

one hit upon the idea of tying a cov7 to anything he 
wished to have moved. 

The First Plow. After the yoke was invented, 
some clever person made a rude plow of sharp sticks 
tied with thongs, and agriculture took a long step 
forward, because this enabled the farmer to use 
animal power to till the soil, instead of doing it all 
by hand. 

Two Kinds of Cattle. Cattle were early brought 
to America from Europe. Men began to want two 
kinds of cattle, one for milk and butter and the 
other for beef. They found that a good milch cow 
is not very good for beef, for her food all goes to 
milk; while a fat cow will not give much milk, as 
her food makes flesh or muscle. By carefully select- 
ing the good milkers for mothers, farmers have 
developed a fine dairy animal, such as the Jersey, 
the Guernsey, or the Hoi stein. 

Beef Cattle. Other cattle raisers have bred from 
the large, heavy animals and have herds of fine beef 
cattle, such as the Shorthorns (Figs. 9 and 17), Here- 
fords, or Galloways (Fig. 10). The beef cow is 
square, with all bones Avell covered with flesh. Her 
back is straight and her legs full and thick. The 
neck is full and stocky, the legs short and set far 
apart to support the large, heavy body. The more 
meat these animals can make from a given amount 
of food, the more i)rofitable they are. 

Their Care and Feed. Beef cattle need different 
food and care from the dairy animals. The beef 



CATTLE 



19 



type do not require such warm barns as the milkers 
do, because fat animals never need such warm hous- 
ing as do lean ones. They seem to do better in dry, 
open sheds that are well bedded. They need such 
foods as will make them fat most quickly and at the 
least expense, and cattle feeders know this well. 




Galloway cow. 



Getting Ready for Market. Sometimes calves are 
fed fattening foods as soon as they can digest them. 
They are kept on such food until they are ready for 
the market at from ten to sixteen months of age. 
Other cattlemen give their young herd the freedom 
of the range or pasture for a few months, or, per- 
haps, for a year or two, and then put them on rich, 



20 ELEMENTARY AGKTCULTURE 



Ih 



:• " M 



i I 




Flo. 11. An empty dinner pail. 

fattening foods for a few montlis before tliey are 
sold to the butclier or the packer. 

Feeding Meal. When teaching a young calf to 
eat meal, the farmer puts him in a box stall with 
another, older calf, and the young one will learn 
from his companion. Another way is to take a little 
meal in the hand and put the hand in the mouth of 
the young calf. (Fig. 11.) 

A Mixed Food. A good meal ration for calves is 
a bushel of ground corn, a bushel of ground oats, a 
peck and a half of wheat bran, and the same of oil 
meal, all well mixed. As soon as calves will take 
hay or fodder, it should be given to them. They 
will begin to nibble and taste it when two or three 
weeks old. The best hay is clover, alfalfa, or cow 
peas. As soon as they begin to chew the cud, finely 
cut .hay is mixed with the meal. In this way one can 
prepare the calf for weaning. (Fig. 12.) 



CATTLE 



21 



Saving Cream. When calves are fed on skimmed 
milk they miss the butter-fat that has been taken 
away as cream. In its place the farmer feeds the 
calf some corn meal or linseed meal. One or two 
cents ^ worth of meal will serve the calf as well as 
twenty-five cents' worth of cream. 

Choosing a Good Dairy Cow. The dairy cow is 
shaped like a wedge. The neck, thighs, and shoul- 
ders are thin and lean. She should be thin, not 
because she is poorly fed, but because she is turning 
a large part of the feed she eats into milk. She 
should be quiet and gentle. She should be strong 
and have room for a large quantity of food. Her 
hips are prominent and wide apart, and the rump 
is high. The hind legs are trim and set well apart. 




Fig. 12. Where are our mothers: 



22 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



Most important of all, slie has a large, well-shaped 
udder. The floor of the udder is straight and 
extends well forward and well backward, too. The 




Fig. 13. The dairy type (Jerseys). 

udder is soft and fine. The teats are evenly placed 
and of medium size. The buyer should milk out a 
few streams to see that the openings are not so 
small as to make her a hard milker. The milk veins 
which extend forward from the udder should be 
large, with many branches, because they supply the 
blood from which the udder secretes the milk. 

The Jersey Type. The Jersey cow (Fig. 13) is 
famous the world over for her rich milk. These 
cows were the first dairy animals to become popular 
in our country. They change a large part of their 
food into milk instead of into flesh or fat. Jersey 
milk is the richest of all. The Jersey heifer matures 



CATTLE 



23 



early and may become a mother at between two and 
three years. So the dairyman does not have to 
feed her long- until she more than pays her way. 
This breed came, in the first place, from Jersey 
Island, in the English Channel. The island is only 
eleven miles long by five and a half wide, but it is 
very rich and productive; and the farms there are 
very small, sometimes not more than two or three 
acres. The principal industry is dairying, and the 
stock has been kept pure by forbidding foreign 
animals to be brought in. The milk is nearly all 
made into butter. 

The Guernseys. The Guernsey cow^s, like the Jer- 
seys, come from one of the islands by that name in 
the English Channel. They are somewhat larger 




Fig. 14. A record cow (Holstein). 



24 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

til an tlie Jerseys. They have coarser bones and 
carry more flesh. Guernseys are noted for their 
yellow milk, which is only second to that of the 
Jersey in richness. But they often give a greater 
amount than the Jersey. 

The Holstein. This dairy animal was bred 2,000 
years ago along the Ehine, in Europe. The Dutch 
first brought these cows to America, shortly after 
the settlement of New Amsterdam. The Holstein 
(Figs. 14 and 107) is noted for the great amount of 
milk given. The milk is not so rich in butter-fat 
as that of the Jersey or Guernsey, but the large 
amount makes her a most desirable cow to keep 
near large cities like New York, where the milk is 
sold by measure. Other noted dairy types are the 
Ayrshire, the Brown Swiss (Fig. 15), and the Dutch 
Belted. 

The Babcock Milk Test. For a long time dairy- 
men did not know how to choose the cows which 
gave the richest milk. Not many years ago Dr. 
S. M. Babcock, of Wisconsin, invented a machine 
to test milk for the amount of butter-fat. Now 
every farmer may know which cows are valuable 
and which ones are not. Eefer to page 247 for full 
description of the Babcock Milk Test. 

What a Good Cow Produces. A good cow should 
produce from twelve to fifteen pounds of butter a 
week. One of the highest records ever made was 
by a Holstein cow that made thirty- three pounds 
of butter in one week (Fig. 14). 



CATTLE 



25 



Caring for the Dairy Cow. Twice each day the 
dairy cow is driven to the barn to be milked, and 
the more milk she gives to each pound of food, the 
more valuable she is (Fig. 16). In order to give 
an abundance of milk, she must have the best of 
care and food, and kind treatment; and she must be 
milked at regular hours. She should have water 
and plenty of good food at ever}^ meal time. 

Their Food. In summer, w^hen the cows are in 




Fig. 15. Broivn Siciss twin calves, hvll and heifer. 



26 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



pasture, they need very little other food .unless the 
pasture becomes short and dry. Then corn, alfalfa, 
peas, oats, rye, or some other crops may be cut green 
and fed to them. Water and shade should be within 
reach of cows at all times in hot weather (Fig. 1). 
In winter they like hay, root crops, and silage. 

A Balanced Feed. It is best to feed some dry hay 
or fodder, some silage or green food, and some 
grain. The careful dairyman always feeds just the 
right amount of each to supply what the cows need 
without any waste. He calls this a ^'balanced 
ration. ' ' 

Testing Cows. Some pure-bred cows are poor 
milkers. The only way to make sure that a cow is 
worth her board is to test her milk for butter-fat 
and weigh the milk. Every dairyman should keep 
a record of each cow for one year. A spring balance 
with a paper beside it will enable the farmer to 
weigh the milk and put down the amount quickly. 

An Easier Way. Or, instead of weighing the milk 
every day, the farmer may weigh the milk of each 




A roiv of money makers. 



CATTLE 



27 



cow for three days each month. The sum of these 
weights multiplied by ten will give the year's pro- 
duction. Take samples for the Babcock test in the 
second, fourth, and seventh months after the cow 
freshens. If you add these and divide by three you 
get the average daily production of butter-fat. 
Cow-testing Associations. Dairymen who find it 




Shorthorn hull. 



difficult to test their own cows are in some instances 
banding together in cow-testing associations. To 
this association each farmer contributes a small fee 
and with this money an expert is employed who 
spends his time going about among the dairies and 
testing the cows of each herd. This plan has been 
used in Bolland for many years, and is the reason 
for the great advance in the dairy business in that 



28 ELEMENTAEY AGRICULTUEE 

countiy. Fanners who desire to form such an asso- 
ciation should write to the Department of Agricul- 
ture, who will send a man to assist in forming the 
organization. 

Uses Made of Beef Cattle. It is said that every 
grown person in the United States eats, on an aver- 
age, one hundred and fifty pounds of meat in a year. 
The greater part of this is furnished by the great 
herds pastured onl:he Western plains. Leather for 
many purposes is made from the hides, and butter- 
ine is a product of the fat or tallow of beef. Buttons 
are made from the bones; combs, from the bones and 
hoofs; and glue, from the sinews, bones, and hide 
trimmings. 

How to Get Good Stock. The cheapest way for a 
farmer to build up a fine herd of either dairy or 
beef cattle is to save only the calves whose father 
or sire is a pure-bred animal. (Fig. 17.) There is 
a true saying among stock farmers that ^'Tlie sire 
is half the herd." The way to improve a scrub 
herd is to obtain a pure-bred sire. The first calves 
are half pure. When these calves become cows and 
mothers, their calves are three-fourths pure stock, 
and so on. Scrub cattle have no place in the fields 
of a good farmer. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) If men had to choose between having either horses 
or cattle alone, which should they choose and why? (2) 
How do you think butter making was discovered ? 

(3) How do you think the first plow was invented? 

(4) Name the chief dairy types? 



CHAPTER III 
MILK AND BUTTER 

Milk as Food. Milk is a good food for every one. 
The Laplander milks his reindeer, and the Arab his 
camel. The people of India milk their buffaloes, and 
the mountain people their sheep. A quart of cow's 
milk contains about the same amount of food as 
three-quarters of a pound of beef. Thus we see 
that milk is cheaper than meat or eggs. As the 
cities grow there is a greater demand for milk, but 
the buyers insist that it be clean. 

Keeping Milk Pure and Clean. Milk absorbs or 
takes up odors. If a cow is fed cabbage, onions, or 
turnips a few hours before she is milked, you will 
notice the flavor of those vegetables in the milk. 
Milk that stands uncovered in dirty barns has the 
odor of the stables. Therefore, the barn must be 
clean and light, with plenty of windows to admit 
the air, and the cows should be fed proper food. 
They should always have pure water, because milk 
carries many germs, especially those of typhoid 
fever. Feeding should be done after milking, so 
the air will not be full of dust to settle in the milk. 
Milking the Cows. The udders of the cows must 
be washed, and the milker *s clothing and hands 
should be clean before a drop is drawn. All pails 
and vats for holding milk should be thoroughly 

29 



30 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTUEE 

washed with warm suds and then rinsed with scald- 
ing water. As soon as milk is drawn, it is well to 
cool it to stop the growth of the germs that cause 
it to sour. 

Butter-fat. If we look at a drop of milk through 
a microscope we shall see many tiny, roundish bod- 
ies with a pearly look floating in the fluid. Fifteen 
thousand to twenty-five thousand of these little bod- 
ies placed side by side will measure an inch, and 
there are millions of them in a drop of milk. These 
particles are the fat of the milk, from which butter 
is made. They are lighter than milk, and when 
milk stands for a time they float upward. With 
some of the milk on top of the pan they form the 
cream. 

Ready to Churn. After the cream is removed by a 
skimmer or the new hand-separator, it should stand 
until it ripens, or sours. It is most easily churned 
at a temperature of from fifty- six to sixty degrees 
Fahrenheit. The room should be, as nearly as pos- 
sible, the same temperature as the cream. 

Churning. When this cream is put into a churn 
and dashed about, the little particles of fat hit to- 
gether and stick to one another until they unite to 
form small pieces of butter about the size of a grain 
of wheat. Then we can see the butter-fat in the 
buttermilk. 

Preparing Butter for Market. When the butter is 
gathered from the churn, it may be washed to remove 
part of the buttermilk. Then the whole butter mass 



MILK AND BUTTER 



31 




is pressed together and rolled with a wooden paddle 
to remove the rest. Three-fourths of an onnce 
of tine 
table salt 
should 
be added 
to each 
pound of 
butter 
and even- 
ly worked 
into the 

butter ^^^' ^^' "^^^^ ^^^ ^^'^^ ^^ separating cream. 

mass with the paddle. The worker firmly rolls and 
Dresses the butter, but does not rub it, because that 

destroys the grain. When 
the butter is free from but- 
termilk, it can be made into 
a tempting lump and stamp- 
ed and rolled in oiled paper. 
Butter is judged for its 
flavor, color, grain, and the 
amount of salt, but in a 
great measure it is judged by 
its general appearance. 

The Churn. Farmers, to- 
day, prefer the barrel churn, 
without a dasher. In opera- 

FiG. 19. The new tvay — . ,, . . ., ., 

cream separator. tlOU thlS clium thrOWS the 

cream back and forth against its sides. Churns 




32 ELEMENTAEY AGKICULTURE 

should never be filled more than half full. Butter- 
making is greatly aided in late years by the use of 
the separator and butterworker (Figs. 18 and 19). 

Cheese-making. Cheese may be made from 
skimmed milk, or the whole milk. Most of the 
cheese we buy at the store is made from the whole 
milk. Years ago our grandmothers made cheese as 
commonly as they did butter, but cheese-making is 
such a long process that to-day it is done in cream- 
eries or factories. Cheese is the solid part of the 
milk in such form as will keep for long periods. A 
little difference in the process of the making, pro- 
duces a different sort of cheese. One book tells us of 
one hundred and fifty-six different kinds. They are 
usually found in three classes — hard or soft cheese, 
cream cheese, and sage cheese. 

Cottage Cheese. Cottage cheese is a home prod- 
uct made by heating sour milk, which has thickened, 
to the point where the curd separates from the whey. 
The whey is drained off through a cheesecloth, and 
the dry curds are seasoned with cream and salt. 
A great deal of this is sold on the market for table 
use. 

By-products. The by-products of the dairy are 
skimmed milk, buttermilk, and whey. These are 
chiefly used in feeding young animals on the farm, 
because it costs less to ship fat stock than it does 
feed or milk. The curd of the milk is dried in large 
factories and ground fine and used in the sizing of 
paper. Milk sugar is made largely from whey. This 



MILK AND BUTTER 33 

is much used for babies and invalids. Other foods 
and drinks which are becoming popular are made 
from the dairy. Up to 1850 the dairy work was all 
done and marketed from the farm. Now the milk is 
largely taken to creameries and factories, and butter, 
cheese, and condensed milk are manufactured there. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) How do you judge a dairy cow? (2) Which cow 
would you keep for butter making and which for sell- 
ing milk? (3) What kind is most common in your 
neighborhood? (4) Would it pay better to keep a dif- 
ferent kind? (5) AVhy is the Babcock test a great in- 
vention? (6) What is a balanced feed? (7) How 
would you test a cow to decide if she were worth keep- 
ing? (8) How would 3^ou proceed to develop a fine 
herd of cattle? (9) Which dairy type do you like best? 
(10) Why? (11) What other animals are sometimes 
kept for their milk? (12) AVhich is the cheaper food, 
milk or beef? (13) How does milk sometimes spread 
disease? (14) What is butter-fat ? (15) How is butter 
made? (16) What makes the difference in cheese? (17) 
Name some other uses for milk. (18) Make questions 
of your own for use in class. 

For exercises, problems and experiments, refer to the 
Appendix. 



CHAPTER IV 
SHEEP 

Wild Sheep of Asia. On the plains of Asia there 
may be seen to-day small flocks of wild sheep. They 
are larger than our common sheep, with such im- 
mense horns that it would require a foot line to reach 
around one at its root and a four-foot line to measure 
their length. The wool of the wild sheep is brown, 
wdth a buff-colored streak along the back. These 
wdld sheep are strong, quick, and suspicious, so they 
are very hard to catch. They are hunted for their 
flesh and their skins, which are made into clothing. 
They have a coat of fine soft wool to keep them 
warm, and over this is a long coarse hair, which 
serves as a raincoat. 

Another Kind of Wild Sheep. In the mountains 
of Greece is another type of wild sheep, smaller and 
less active than those of Asia. It is believed that 
our domestic sheep have come from one or the other, 
or perhaps both, of these wild types. 

Taming the Sheep. Some writers think the sheep 
was tamed before the horse or cow, because they 
were small and could not defend themselves so well. 
Sheepskins made fine clothing for the cave man. 
The first animal we find mentioned in the Bible is 
the sheep, but the Bible mentions other domestic 
animals. 

34 



SHEEP 35 

Where Sheep Live. The sheep can live on rough 
hillsides and mountain cliffs where other domestic 
animals would starve. They thrive best in cool cli- 
mates, because of their heavy coats of wool. They 
require less grain and wdll eat more kinds of food 
than the horse or cow. So they are more easily 
cared for (Fig. 20). 

The Use of Sheep. A flock of sheep increases very 
rapidly, for ewes, or mother sheep, often bear twin 




Fig. 20. A good animal eats no more hut pays better. 

lambs every year. The lambs become full-grown in 
a few months, and their flesh makes excellent food, 
while the fleeces make woolen clothes for the people 
of many lands. When prices of wool are fair, a 
good ewe will pay her board and keep through the 
year with her fleece. The flesh of the sheep is worth 
about half as much as the wool. If she raises two 
lambs they are clear gain to the farmer. Sheep 
have no equal as weed-destroyers, for they eat 
nearly every weed that grows on the farm. In small 
numbers they build up and enrich the land, for 
sheep manure is worth more as a fertilizer than 



36 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 




Fig. 21. A Merino ram. 



that of any other farm animal except poultry. A 
few sheep will pay their way and make money for 

their owner on any 
farm tliat is not wet 
and marshy. They 
will not thrive on 
low, moist land. 
Aside from their 
fleece and mutton, the 
hones are used for 
fertilizer. The skins 
make leather for 
boots and shoes. The 
tallow is made into 
candles, and the skins of the intestines are made into 
strings for musical instruments. 

Two Kinds of Sheep. We raise two types of 
sheep, because those that produce the best wool do 
not make the best mutton. If a farmer is raising 
sheep for mutton mainly, he keeps a herd of Shr op- 
shires or Southdowns or some other mutton type. 
If he is chiefly interested in growing fine wool, he 
keeps American Merinos or some breed like them. 

Merinos for Wool. The oldest races of the domes- 
ticated sheep are probably the Merinos (Fig. 21). 
They were very likely kept in Palestine in Bible 
times, and it may be that King David when a lad 
kept watch over a flock of Merinos. They came to 
xlmerica from Spain and have been greatly im- 
proved by American farmers. They are the best 



SHEEP 



37 



wool-producers, yielding heavy fleeces of very fine 
wool that is used to make the finest and most 
expensive woolen goods. 

Thrive in Large Flocks. Though the Merinos are 
not so hardy as the wild sheep, they are hardier 
than any other of the domestic breeds. They will 
thrive in larger flocks than any other kinds, so they 
are used in the range country of the West. They 
have a long life and grow good fleeces to a ripe old 
age, while the fleece of the mutton type begins to 
lose in weight at an early age. Sheep on ranches 
of our Western states are kept a thousand or two 
thousand in a flock and sent off in the summer with 
a herder and a shepherd dog. If the herder has a 
horse, he sometimes cares for five thousand in a 
flock. One rancher often owns from twenty-five 
thousand to fifty thousand sheep. The cattle men 
object to large flocks of sheep, for they eat the grass 
so close that other ani- 
mals cannot be grazed 
there. Cattle also dis- 
like the odor left by 
sheep. 

The Shepherd Dog. 
The shepherd dog, or 
collie, tends the flock 
and rounds them up 
when they stray. Ho 
watches them at night and keeps off the mountain 
lions. These dogs are very intelligent. They obey 




Fig. 22, A Shropsliire ram. 



38 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTITRE 

the voices and spoken commands of their masters, 
and even understand signals of the arms. 

Care and Fleeces of Sheep. The Merinos stand 
more neglect than other sheep. They can get 
through the winter on good straw, a little grain, 
and some hill pasture. However, their mutton is 
only fair, and they do not raise as many lambs as 
other breeds. Their bodies are covered with large 
folds or wrinkles of skin that make shearing diffi- 
cult, but these very wrinkles only make so much 
more surface for good wool to grow on. 

Sheep for Mutton. Shropshires and Southdowns 
are the best liked of the mutton types in America. 
The Shropshires (Fig. 22) have nearly black faces 
and legs, and no horns. They rear more lambs than 
other kinds, but their wool is not so fine as that of 
the Merinos. Mutton sheep are profitable even on 
high-priced land, if it is near a good market. Fancy 
Iamb mutton is a delicacy that people like and are 
willing to pay for. Southdown ewes usually rear 
two lambs each year, and they are good mothers. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) Where did the forefathers of our sheep come frmn? 
(2) Have you any reasons for believing that the sheep 
was tamed before the cow or horse? (3) Could you 
think of a reason why sheep will not thrive on a wet or 
swampy farm? (4) Which of the mutton types do you 
like best? (5) Why? (6) Are Merinos raised in your 
county? (7) Why, or why not? 

For problems and experiments refer to the Appendix. 



CHAPTER V 



SWINE 



Improving the Hog. Hogs, like most other do- 
mestic animals, were brought to America from 
Europe. Most of the breeds of fat hogs have 
developed here. By carefully choosing and keeping 
the best hogs the farmers have made the fine breeds 
of to-day quite different from the fierce wild boar. 
The wild hog did not take on fat, but our domestic 
breeds will fatten in a remarkably short time. 

The hog yiel^ls meat at a lower cost than any 
other animal when he is well cared for and prop- 
erly fed. Intelligent farmers do not raise scrub 
hogs, which are sometimes called ^' razor backs." 
It takes two years to get a scrub to weigh as much 
as a well-bred pig will weigh when nine months 
old. If a farmer has only scrub stock he can 
improve his herd in a very few years by the use 
of a well-bred sire. 
Among the standard 
breeds of hogs popu- 
lar on the great hog 
farms of the Central 
West are the York- 

shire, Tamworth, Fig. 23. a Cheshire pig. 

Cheshire, Berkshire, Chester- White, Duroc-Jersey, 
and Poland-China. (Figs. 23, 24, 25, and 26.) 

39 




40 ELEMENTARY AGRTCULTITRE 

The Bacon Type. There are two different kinds, 
or types of hogs. The people of Canada, and espe- 
cially of England, like hacon with considerable lean 
meat in it. This can only come from swine whieh 
have well developed muscles. And so hog raisers 
have brought forth a lengthy, muscular animal 
called the bacon type, such as the Yorkshires and 
Tamworths. It costs more to raise the bacon type. 

The Lard Type. In our great corn belt it has 
been found that a tine type of fat hogs can be raised 
chiefly on corn, which is cheap food. So farmers 
have developed a fat hog type or lard variety. 
This type has small bones, a short, round body, 
and short legs. 

Berkshires. There are several breeds of fat hogs 
that are popular, one of which is the Berkshire. 
The Berkshire hog is a fine lard-type animal usu- 
ally black with white marks on the face, feet, and 
tail. Berkshires are found in every state but are 




Fig. 24. Berkshires on clover. 



SWINE 



41 




Fig. 25. Chester-White sows and pigs. 



very numerous in the corn belt. They grow rapidly 
and fatten easily. Berkshire mothers have large 
families and take good care of them. (Fig. 24.) 

Chester- Whites. Another popular breed of the 
fat hog type is the Chester-White. They are of 
medium size and white, no black hairs being 
allowed in the pure breeds, and the hair is often 
curly. They were developed in Chester County, 
Pennsylvania, by mixing several other breeds of 
hogs. Chester- Whites are good grazers and the 
sows have large litters of pigs. (Fig. 25.) 

Duroc-Jerseys. Duroc-Jerseys are another Amer- 
ican breed of the fat hog type. They are about the 
size of the Chester- White. Duroc-Jerseys are cherry 
red in color, but sometimes yellowish reds and chest- 
nut shades are seen. We do not know just how they 



42 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

originated, but different breeds of red hogs were 
common many years ago in New York and New 
Jersey, and these were brought together and 
blended. Red hogs are common in the corn states. 
They are good grazers and put on flesh easily and 
cheaply. They are liked because they have large 
litters and because they reach good size and weight. 
They thrive well when following a herd of fatten- 
ing cattle. 

Poland-China. Another fat hog is the Poland- 
China. (Fig. 26.) They are usually black with 




Fig. 26. A prise Poland China. 

white markings on the face. The breed was first 
known in Ohio where in the early days the pre- 
vailing color was white. Poland-Chinas are great 
favorites in the corn states, because they seem to 
do better on corn alone than any other breed. For 
the purpose of turning corn into pork Poland- 



SWINE 43 

Chinas are unequalled. Tliey make good gains on 
pasture with light grain ration, and mature early. 
Their litters are not so large as those of the 
Duroc-Jerseys which is a mark against the breed. 

Feeding. The first thing to think of in feeding 
hogs is a balanced ration. The most important part 
of this ration is the protein and as most feeds on 
the farm are short in protein this must be supplied. 
The easiest way to provide the protein for hogs is 
to grow large forage crops like alfalfa or clover. 
Milk and bran are rich in protein. To balance the 
protein, corn is the cheapest and best food. It fur- 
nishes heat and fat. Corn and alfalfa or corn and 
clover is, perhaps, the easiest balanced ration to 
provide, especially in the corn belt. Corn, alone 
is not rich enough in protein for the best results, 
but it is often used for a few weeks immediately 
before a herd is shipped to market, to make weight. 

The hog must also have plenty of pure water. 
Pigs need more water than older hogs in jDropor- 
tion to their size. Charcoal, lime, ashes, and salt 
should always be in reach to provide the mineral 
food w^hich the animal needs. Pigs need room to 
exercise for the sake of their digestion. For this 
reason it is better to let them forage for part of 
their food. (Fig. 27.) 

Hogs on Pasture. By far the greatest number 
of hogs are fattened for market in the summer and 
early fall. The care and labor is less then and the 
gain ill flesh greater. Pigs need more feed in cold 



44 ELEMEXTARY AGRICULTURE 




;'^-.,^^^ 



Fig. 27. Good feeders. 

weather just as people do. Pigs do well on pasture. 
We have learned that pigs fed on corn alone on 
blue grass pasture gain weight as rapidly as if 
they were fed a carefully balanced ration in a dry 
lot. But clover or alfalfa is better than blue grass 
or timothy pasture. (Fig. 24.) Corn fed on clover 
pasture is better than the more costly feed of corn 
and shorts in parts of two to one in a dry lot. 

Coarse, bulky foods do not suit hogs well. Wheat 
bran, corn-and-cob meal and oat feed are too bulky 
to give the best results. It has been proven that 
corn soaked from one feeding time to the next is 
more easily digested. 

Rooting. Hogs relish herbs, roots, grubs, and 
mineral elements and they like to root for them 
in the soil. Rooting is good exercise for hogs, 
but it destroys grass and forage crops and the 
habit once acquired is difficult to eradicate. Hogs 
will do less rooting if fed wood ashes, charcoal, 
grit, and salt; but even then they are likely to root 
up the soil in cool, shady places. Often it is neces- 



SWINE 45 

sary to put rings in their noses but they should not 
be put in too deep. 

Yards. A hog farm should be fenced hog tight 
to keep the herd from those of the neighbors and 
to protect crops. Young hogs need yards large 
enough to furnish pasture and forage. Ten or fif- 
teen pigs are enough for a four-acre lot of clover 
or alfalfa. The forage not eaten if mowed two or 
three times a year brings forth a fresh new crop 
of tender growth and keeps the herd well fed. 

Fencing. Wire fencing is much used. The posts 
of cedar or of hedge are generally treated with 
creosote to prevent water soaking and decay. They 
will last from eight to ten years. A better post 
may be made of concrete for a cost of twenty-five 
cents apiece. The corners of the fences should be 
well braced and a barbed wire placed beneath the 
woven wire to keep the herd from rooting and 
crawling under. Gates should be of plank or steel 
frames with woven wire and safe fastenings. 

Sheds and Shelter. Some farmers depend on 
large open sheds to shelter their herds. Such sheds 
should have tight roofs, sides and ends. The south 
side is left open for air and sunshine. This is 
especially suitable for warm climates though not 
for the Northern states. The sheds should have 
partitions to prevent the hogs from piling up too 
much on cold nights wdien they get overheated and 
catch cold afterward. They are apt to have a lung 
disease which is mistaken for cholera. 



46 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 




Fig. 28. The Colony type of hog house with chain and single tree 

for hauling. 

Hog Houses. Houses differ according to climate. 
In the warmer states the breeders use small mov- 
able hog houses large enough for a mother and her 
family. (Fig. 28.) These houses are scattered 
about over the farm. This is known as the colony 
system. The great advantage of this system is 
that the hogs are separated in small families and 
if disease breaks out only a few are exposed. These 
may be taken to a distant part of the farm and in 
case of cholera the house may be burned with little 
loss. 

The more convenient plan is the large central 
hog house which saves much time in feeding and 
care. Such a house has a place for sleeping, a 



SWIXE 



47 



separate place for small pigs and another for fat- 
tening hogs. Such hog houses are made in many 
forms. Some are round, others square or rectan- 
gular. (Fig. 29.) In any case all buildings should 
be warm and dry with plenty of light and air. 
(Farmer's Bulletin 438 — Hog Houses.) 

Diseases. The two most common diseases of hogs 
are tuberculosis and hog cholera. Hogs get the 
germs of tuberculosis through their food. Pigs fed 
on the refuse from dairies and cheese factories get 
the germs from infected cows. 

Hog cholera is sometimes called swine fever 
because a fever always accompanies the disease. 
Frequently the hogs die very suddenly after a few 
hours, other forms allow the animal to live several 




Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 
Fig. 29. A iceU-bidlt and icell-arranged central hog house, showing 
arrangement of outside pens. 



48 ELEMENTARY AGEICULTURE 

days. Hogs that have cholera are stuijid and life- 
less and refuse to move. They lie huddled together 
or retire to a corner of the pen. Some will eat 
while others will not. No cure for hog cholera has 
been found except anti-cholera serum. (Farmer's 
Bulletin 379 tells how to prevent hog cholera.) 

There are other diseases such as mange, paraly- 
sis, and black tooth. The most satisfactory way to 
give medicine to hogs is in their food, but it is 
ahvays a good plan to know how^ to prevent disease 
in the first place. 

Lice. If the herd is troubled with lice the hogs 
may be dipped in a coal tar disinfectant to be had 
at the drug store. Directions for using it are also 
given. In summer crude oil may be poured on the 
water in the wallow. This will cling to the hogs 
and kill the lice without injury to the hog. Gunny 
sacks soaked in crude oil may be wrapped around 
a rubbing post in the hog lot. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) In what ways do our hogs differ from the wild 
boar? (2) How has this change come about? (3) What 
protection do hogs need? (4) Why? (5) Which breeds 
do you find in your count}^? (6) How do the East 
and West differ in hog raising ? (7) Where in your county 
are most of the hogs raised? (8) Name the chief breeds of 
bacon and lard hogs and tell why they are popular. 
(9) Discuss hog houses. (10) Tell what you can about 
diseases of hogs. 



CHAPTER VI 
POULTRY 

The Original Home of Poultry. Our chickens 
have probably come from the wild jmigie fowl of 
India. Early man used to snare and kill these large 
wild birds for food and rob their nests, because he 
liked the eggs to eat. When men settled down and 
gave up their wandering life, they tamed and fed 
the jungle fowl. In time their wings grew smaller, 
because they used them so much less, and their 
bodies grew heavier. So to-day we have the con- 
tented hens that stay quietly in their pens and 
cackle to let us know when they have an Qgg ready. 

Value of Fowls to the Farmer. Since the farmer 
has learned in the last few years to take better care 
of his poultry, it is now thought that they pay better 
for what they eat than any other stock on the farm. 
There is a great demand for ^'broilers'' from ten to 
twelve weeks old, and they bring fancy prices. The 
number of eggs used in the United States daily is 
beyond our imagination. It is estimated at about 
forty-four millions. Besides supplying eggs and 
meat for the farmer's use, the chickens, if they are 
allowed to roam, catch many grasshoppers and in- 
sects. During the summer months they get most 
of their food on the range. They like grass, seeds, 
bugs, lime, and grit. 

49 



50 



ELEMENTAEY AGRICULTURE 



Four Classes. Chickens have been divided into 
four classes. The large, fat, meat-producing kind 
does not lay well. They are the Cochins and 
Brahmas (Fig. 30). The Leghorns and Minorcas 
are especially valuable for producing eggs. They 
are a small, wiry sort with large combs. They lay 
large, white eggs and seldom want to hatch them, 
so they can be kept laying for long periods. Their 
flesh is not so excellent for the table as other breeds, 
but they are very popular among poultry keepers 
near large cities where fancy prices are paid for 
eggs. The fancy or game chickens are beautifully 
feathered birds and are kept for show. To this class 
belongs the bantam that is too small for real use. 

But certain breeds comhine the best qualities of 
the layers and the fat chickens. They are the gen- 




FiG. 30. Light Brahmas. 



POULTRY 



51 



eral purpose fowls that have nice tender meat. 
They both lay well and make good mothers. To this 
class belong the differ- 
ent kinds of Plymouth 
Eocks (Figs. 31 and 
32), Wyandottes and 
Ehode Island Reds. 
These breeds are all 
developed in America. 

Habits. Chickens 
swallow their food 
whole. It is softened 
in the crop and ground 
up in the stomach, or 
gizzard, the walls of 
which are hard and 
muscular. Fowls tip 
their heads back to swallow when they take a beak 
full of water, because they have no muscle in their 
throats. Chickens wallow or take a dust bath to 
drive away insects or clean their skins; and in wet 
weather they oil their feathers so they will shed 
water well and so keep their skin dry. 

The Nests. A hen will hide her eggs, if possible, 
so a cozy place should be arranged in a quiet, dark 
place for her nest. She begins to lay in the spring, 
one egg each day. If left to herself, she would 
commence to sit as soon as she had twelve or fif- 
teen eggs. By removing the eggs she is kept laying 
a much longer time. The breeds tliat do not sit 




Fig. 31. Barred Eocl: 




(^ 



POULTRY 53 

have been known to lay as many as two hundred 
thirty eggs in a year. 

Poultry in Pens. Chickens that have free range 
are more profitable and do better than those kept in 
pens. But fowls can be kept under many .conditions. 
To do well they must have reasonably warm, dry 
quarters with plenty of light and fresh air. In parts 
of the West, where it is dry, a frame of poles is set 
up in November and covered with straw. The 
chickens run inside this warm shelter and do well. 
If a hen is protected from draughts, frost, lice, and 
bad air she is likely to think spring has come in 
February and will begin early laying, or perhaps 
she will lay all winter. Some breeds lay well in the 
winter time when they have good care. 

Care of Henhouse. Farmers should clean up their 
old henhouses with a shovel, broom, and boiling 
water. They should paint the roosts with kerosene 
to kill lice, and whitewash the walls. The cracks 
can be stuffed with straw and covered with tarred 
paper. Very soon the farmer will see his hens doing 
better. Leaves or straw make a fine floor covering, 
and they force the fowls to scratch for the grain. 
The house should be kept clean and fresh leaves or 
straw put in each week. (Fig. 33.) 

Laying Hens. Laying hens require different food 
from those intended for table use. Variety of food 
is important. One reason the hen lays in summer 
is because she chooses her own food and has a bal- 
anced ration. She eats all day long, a little at a 



54 ELEMENTAEY AGRICULTUEE 

time, and does not mope. A moping hen does not 
lay well, as exercise is necessary. Chickens in a 
pen need animal food, such as meat scraps and 
skimmed milk, to take the place of the insects that 
they get when they are allowed to roam. Cracked 
oyster shell furnishes lime for making the eggshell, 
and grit must be provided for grinding their food. 
Fresh water in clean dishes should always be within 
reach. During the winter season, corn may be given 
once a day because it is a warming food. Ground 
bone, table scraps, cooked potatoes, turnips, and 
vegetable tops are given instead of green food. 
Eggs, like milk, often show by their color, flavor, 
and odor what food the hens eat. 

Hatching Little Chicks. Hen^s eggs are hatched 
by keeping them at the same warm temperature for 
twenty-one days. Many farmers prefer the hen to 
incubators for hatching. Perfect-shaped eggs with 
good firm shells should be selected for hatching. 
The fresher they are the better. "When two broods 
of chicks are hatched at the same time, one hen 
may be able to mother both. 

How to Care for the Brood. Little chickens must 
be kept dry and must be carefully fed three times 
a day. Corn meal and bread crumbs and the yolk 
of hard-boiled eggs are a good beginning. If chicks 
are in a pen, cut grass from the lawn makes good 
green food. Soon a little chicken will eat wheat 
and cracked ,corn. Chicken lice are a great trouble 
to the tiny chicks and the mother hen, and the nest 



POULTRY 



55 




Fig. 33. A sanitary poultry house. 



sliould be dusted with powder a week before the 
chickens are hatched. Some of the powder may be 
mixed with lard and rubbed well on each chicken's 
iiead. 

Brooder Chicks. Incubator chickens have no 
mother to teach them to eat grit and green stutf. 



56 ELEMENTAKY AGEICULTUEE 

When chicks are first brought to the brooder, bread 
crumbs are sprinkled upon the floor among the grit, 
and in this way they learn to take food and grit at 
the same time. To make them eat promptly, the 



■ 


■V 'l^^^^^f ^B 


^1 


^^^ 







Fig. 34. Incubator 'babies. 

food may be taken away after five minutes. (Fig. 
34.) 

Fattening Broilers. When the chickens are 
weaned from the hen, the cockerels are put in a 
yard by themselves and fed on porridge made of 
four parts of corn meal, two parts of middlings, and 
one part beef scrap. The mixture is wet with 
skimmed milk until it will run from a wooden spoon. 
They are fed this at morning and at evening. They 
are allowed plenty of shade and kept as quiet as 



POULTRY 57 

possible. This makes them more meaty and soft 
than those that exercise. Chickens about a hundred 
days old gain the most rapidly. They often gain 
from one and three-fourths to two and one-fourth 
pounds in a month. When cockerels weigh two 
13ounds or over they should be sold for broilers. 

Poultry Pests. Hawks capture many chicks. A 
good marksman can kill a few and hang them on 
poles around the yard as an object lesson. The 
best remedy is to keep the chicks in yards covered 
with wire until they are large enough to run for 
shelter. It is well to have low-growing shrubs 
where chickens can hide. If pigs run in the same 
field with chickens they must be watched, for if a 
pig once gets a taste of chicken, he will chase them 
continually. Rats trouble chicks at night. Cement 
floors and stone foundations in chicken houses will 
keep out rats. Poison may be used if it can be kept 
away from the chickens. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) AYhich do you think will pay better on the farm, 
the Leghorns or the Barred Rocks? (2) Give reasons. 
(3) How do fowls keep themselves clean? (4) Why 
do we scatter grain in straw for the chickens to search 
out? (5) Why should farmers use incubators? (6) 
What is the use of grit in chicken feed? (7) Why is 
oyster shell eaten by hens? (8) What is the cause of 
soft-shelled eggs? (9) Why should chickens be penned 
up and kept quiet when fattening for market? 

For exercises, problems and experiments, refer to the 
Appendix. 



CHAPTER VII 



TUEKEYS, DUCKS, AND GEESE 

Turkeys. A flock of turkeys has helped many a 
farmer's daughter to a new winter outfit or bought 
her things to go away to school. Besides being a 
profitable bird at Thanksgiving time, they destroy 
millions of bugs which would injure the crops. The 
bronze turkey (Fig. 35) is the most common in the 
United States. Some turkeys are hatched by hens 
and some by incubators. The first food should be 
the curd of milk made like cottage cheese. To the 
cheese should be added chopped boiled eggs and a 
bread made of corn meal, skimmed milk, and salt. 
After turkeys are six weeks old, they get their own 
living catching grasshoppers and bugs. They need 

clean pens and clean 
food. Dampness is 
sure to kill young tur- 
keys, so they should 
be kept in their pens 
in the morning until 
the dew is oif the 
grass. 

Fattening TurkeySe 
The turkey is usually 
allowed to roam until 
he is ready for market, 



f 

L 


i^: 




'I^S 




4i^ 


|B^~^^^ " " , 


UK 


IP? 


1 


^ mti 



Fig. 35. Bronze turTcey. 



58 



TUEKEYS, DUCKS, AND GEESE 



59 



but about the first of October lie should have an eve- 
ning meal of good yellow corn. It is well to begin 
with a little at a time, but by the first of November 
he must go to bed with a full .crop every night. 
This makes the flesh yellow, juicy, and tender. 

Ducks. Pekins are the most popular ducks (Fig. 
36). Duck's eggs can 
be hatched under hens 
or in incubators. The 
first food of the duck- 
lings should be a moist 
mash instead of dry 
feed. Ducks need plenty 
of water to drink, for 
they take a mouthful of 
food and wash it down 
with water. They must 
have drinking pans 
deep enough so they can 

stick their heads in over their eyes, because that is 
their way of keeping their nostrils and eyes clean. 
The birds are dry-picked to save the feathers for 
pillows. Duck's eggs are popular, especially at 
Easter. 

Geese. The goose is the Christmas bird (Fig. 37). 
When geese are allowed to roam they gather most 
of their food, which is usually grasses and insects. 
In the winter months they must be fed one meal a 
day. Geese graze as freely as cattle and have been 
accused of destroying the roots of grass. They must 




Fig. 3G. PeTcin ducTcs. 



60 



ELEMENTAKY AGRICULTUEE 



have plenty of water for tlie same reason that ducks 
need it. The eggs are best hatched under a hen. 
A sitting goose is very cross and has been known 
to break a man's arm with a blow of her wings. 

Young goslings are easily chilled and must be 
looked after during cold rains. To make a rapid 




Fig. 37. The Christmas bird. 

growth, geese must be fed wheat bran, corn meal, 
and scraps. They should have plenty of shade, 
water, and grass. They may be made ready for 
market in three months. Their feathers are valu- 
able for pillows and many other things. 



CHAPTER VIII 
INSECTS 

Insect Enemies. Almost every plant has an in- 
sect enemy that feeds upon it; and the farmer who 
wishes to protect his crops, orchards, and gardens 
must know how to fight these plant enemies. In- 
sects form about nine-tenths of all the animal life 
upon the earth. Hundreds of millions of dollars' 
worth of farmers' produce is lost each year because 
of insects. (Figs. 38, 39, 40, 41, and 77.) 

Insect Friends. Certain insects, however, are use- 
ful to mankind. Some gather honey and carry 
pollen from flower to flower, while others spin silk, 
and still others clean away dead animals. These 
friends of man are: bees (Fig. 45), wasps, dragon 
flies, tiger beetles, silkworms, and many others. 

Parts of Insects. Insects when full-grown have 
the body divided into three parts: the head, the 
middle part, or thorax, and the abdomen or back 
part. On the head are the eyes, the feelers, called 
antennce, and the mouth. The chest or thorax bears 
the wings, of which there are usually two pairs, and 
six legs. 

Biting Insects. There are among insects two 
kinds of mouths. Such insects as grasshoppers and 
beetles bite the food. Others, such as mosquitoes, 
bedbugs, bees, and butterflies, suck their food. 

61 



62 



ELEMENTAEY AGRICULTUEE 



Insects witli biting mouths have two pairs of jaws 
with which they chew their food ; and they often eat 
bark, leaves, fruit, and flowers. All these biting 
insects may be killed by spraying poison on the 
plants on which they feed. 

Sucking Insects. Insects with sucking mouths 
usually live upon the sap of plants or the blood of 




Courtesy U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 

Fig. 38. Knotty apples from trees that were not sprayed. 

animals. Some few of them, such as bees and but- 
terflies, feed largely upon the nectar or sweets of 
flowers. Since they get their food from the inside 
of the objects on which they feed, we can not poison 
them, but must find some other method of fighting 
them. 

Contact Insecticides. Substances have been dis- 
covered which will kill insects when covering or 
touching their bodies. These are called contact 



INSECTS 



63 



insecticides. Insects do not breathe through their 
noses or mouths, but they have little holes, or pores 
placed along both sides of their bodies, and through 
these the air passes in and out. When anything 
clogs these breathing pores, they die. It has been 
found that certain oils and powders will destroy in- 
sects by smothering them. Oils may be mixed with 




Courtesy U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 

Fig. 39. Apples from trees that ivere sprayed. No farmer can afford 
to neglect his fruit crop. 

other materials so as to prevent damage to the plants 
on which the insects live. Kerosene emulsion is 
such an insect destroyer. Poisons may be put on 
the plants before insects appear as a protection, but 
contact insecticides must be applied to the insects 
themselves. 

Moulting of Insects. Insects have no bones or 
inside skeleton, but the skin becomes very hard and 



64 



ELEMENTAKY AGEICULTUKE 




horn-like and is usually .considered the skeleton of 
the insect. As it becomes hard it will not stretch; 

and when the insect has 
grown so large as to en- 
tirely fill this hard coat, 
a new or soft coat forms 
underneath ; and the old 
one is shed or cast off. 
The casting off of an old 
coat, or shell, is called 
moulting. The skin is 
moulted several times 
during the life of the 
insect, and each time it 
becomes larger. The 

Courtesy U. S. Dept. of Agriculture i • j^ i ' n 

chiei changes m the m- 

FiG. 40. Curculio depositing its it ^•(} n 

egg upon a young peach. Sect'S lite USUalJy COmC 

in the last two moults. 
Stages of Development. 

Wasps, bees, butterflies, 
moths, beetles, flies, and 
mosquitoes have very re- 
markable changes in the 
last moults. Such insects 
are said to have four 
stages of life: (1) the ^gg 
stage, (2) the larva or 
grub stage, (3) the pupa 

stage, (4) the adult stage. courtesy U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 
rFio-« 40 ^j.A 4.0 \ ' Fit;. 41. The young grub de- 

Vri^^b. ■±^ ana -to.) stroying the fruit. 




INSECTS 



65 



Larva Stage. Eggs liatcli into tlie larva stage, 
which is the time of growth and when most of the 
eating is done. The larva of a butterfly is a cater- 
pillar, that of a fly is a maggot, and the larva of a 
mosquito is a wiggler. Some insects eat all the 
time during this growing stage, never going to sleep. 




Courtesy U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 

Fig. 42. Hay beetle, called also June beetle or June bug; a, beetle; 

b, pupa; c, egg; cl, neuhj-liatched larva; e, mature larva; 

f, anal segment of same from below. 



They stop only long enough to cast their coats. The 
kinds that live on flesh have, in some instances, 
been known to eat two hundred times their own 
weight in a single day. 

Pupa Stage. The larva then goes into a resting 
or sleeping state, enclosing itself in a case of some 
kind. This is called the pupa stage. Silkworms 
spin for their pupa stage a silken covering called a 
cocoon. While in this state the insects go through 
many wonderful changes. Wings and legs are 
grown and after a short time the full grown or adult 







Courtesy U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 

Fig. 43. Mexican Cotton Boll Weevil. 1, Weevil, hack view, 
weevil, side view; 3, fully-grown larva; 4, egg; 5, pupa 
ready to transform; 6, adult weevil with wing covers 
raised and wings extended, ready to tale flight. 



INSECTS 67 

insect ,comes forth a fly, a mosquito, or a beetle. 

Freezing the Insect. The blood of insects is trans- 
parent like water and is pushed along through the 
body by the beating of a large vein or artery which 
lies along the back, instead of by the beating of a 
heart. Insects are cold-blooded and can freeze with- 
out being killed. During the winter insects hiber- 
nate; that is, a great many varieties live through 
the winter hidden away among old grass or under 
stones, logs, bark, and in the ground. Even the 
eggs of insects may be frozen solid and remain 
uninjured. 

Insect Life Short. Insects generally die soon 
after laying their eggs, though some kinds live 
longer, raising several broods. A great many die 
before their eggs hatch. Insects are found in all 
countries at all times of the year. They are found 
in our homes, gardens, and fields; in the air, water, 
and the earth: both within and upon the bodies of 
animals. We shall learn more of the different kinds 
of insects as we study the chapters on crops. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) How do insects compare in numbers with animals? 
(2) Name some insects that are man's friends. (3) 
Name the parts of the insect's body. (4) How many 
legs have they? (5) What is the difference between 
biting and sucking insects? (6) Why does a farmer need 
to know how an insect takes its food? (7) Why do 
insects moult? (8) Explain larva, pupa, and cocoon. 
(9) What is peculiar about the blood of insects? (10) 
What is meant by hibernating? 



CHAPTER IX 
THE BEE 

The First Sugar Makers. All tlie old Bible coun- 
tries had their beekeepers. Before the growing of 
sugar cane and the making of sugar was begun, 
bees furnished the only means of sweetening food. 
Our savage forefathers probably robbed the hollow 
trees where bees stored their honey and in time 
learned how to capture swarms. In England, not 
many hundred years ago, swarms of bees were so 
prized that they w^ere willed from one family to 
another. 

Finding the Bee-Tree. To find a "bee-tree,'' the 
hunters took to the edge of the woods boxes of 
diluted honey; then they followed in the direction 
the bees took as they flew home. It was believed 
when the bee had his honey basket filled, he took 
the straightest way possible to the bee tree. That 
is how we came to have the expression, "Take a 
bee line." 

The Honey Train. An American invented the 
hive which makes it possible for one man to take 
charge of many bees. There are many men who 
make beekeeping their business (Fig. 44). It has 
been estimated that if all the honey manufactured 
in the United States in one year were put in cars, 
it would make a train thirty-five miles long. 

68 



THE BEE 



69 



Where the Honey Comes From. Bees, with their 
long tongues, take the sweet juice, or nectar, from 




Courtesy of "Bee Culture," Medina, Ohio 
Fig. 44. A profitable apiary. 

flowers, clover, buckwheat, alfalfa, black gum, chest- 
nut, and catnip. This nectar we may taste by pull- 
ing a clover blossom to pieces, but only the bee 
knows how to make it into honey. 

Pollen and Wax. It was once thought that the 
bees used the little yellow balls, which we some- 
times see clinging to their hind legs, for making 
wax; but now we know the little yellow balls are 
made of pollen which the bee gathers from flowers 
for the purpose of feeding its young, and that the 
wax is secreted from their own bodies in much the 



70 ELEMENTAEY AGRICULTUEE 

same way as a cow secretes milk. The wax forms 
in little scales on the under side of their bodies, and 
when they want to use it they pick it off with their 
feet. After mixing it in their mouths, they use it 
in building the beautiful combs with the six-sided 
pockets in which they store honey. 
Members of the Bee Family. We do not care to 




Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 
Fig. 45. Tlie Jioney "bee; a, worl-er ; h, queen; c, drone, 
[Twice the iiatural size.'] 

go very near bees when they are at work, so not 
many of us know the difference between the queen, 
the workers, and the drones (Fig. 45). The queen 
is the largest and the most important bee in the 
hive. If we examine the cell, or living room of the 
queen bee, we shall find it nearly four times as large 
as those of the other bees. It is about the size and 
shape of a peanut and is usually placed on the edge 
of the comb. 



THE BEE 



71 



The Work of the Queen. The queen is the mother 
bee, and she lays all the eggs. It is said that a queen 
bee has laid more than three thousand eggs in a 
single day. There are some seasons when she does 
not lay so many, and there are other seasons when 
she does not lay at all; but it does not take long for 
her family to become too large for the hive. 

Why Bees Swarm. When the family becomes too 
big, they form a new family, or, in other words, they 
" swarm. '^ (Fig. 46.) A cloud of bees comes out 
of the hive and lights on a near-by bush. From 




Courtesy of "Bee Culture," Medina, Ohio 

Fig. 46. A stand of hees near the swarming time. 



72 ELEMENTAKY AGKICULTUEE 

here they send out scouts to find new housekeeping 
quarters; they also wish to make sure their queen 
is with them. If they find she is not with them, 
they return to the old hive and wait for her before 
they start again. If the beekeeper is watching, he 
makes ready a clean, fresh hive and either shakes 
them in or places it where they will go in. 

The New Queen. The queen which takes her place 
in the old hive comes from an egg laid in the queen ^s 
cell. She has been fed with ^^ royal jelly.'' This is 
much richer food than that which is fed to the baby 
bees which grow into the workers or drones, and it 
makes a much larger bee. (Fig. 45-b.) 

Getting a New Queen. In case an accident hap- 
pens to their old queen, the bees have a curious way 
of getting a new one very soon. The drones choose 
three cells which contain newly-hatched bees, they 
knock out the partition cells, kill two of the bee- 
babes, and feed the third on ^^ royal jelly." 

Dividing the Work. There are from thirty thou- 
sand to forty thousand workers in a good strong 
colony, and each bee has its own work to do. The 
young bees build the comb, feed the newly-hatched 
bees, and do general housework; those a little older 
secrete wax and help their elder brothers to shape 
pockets for storing the honey which these older bees 
bring in. A queen may live four or five years, but 
the workers that are hatched in the spring, work so 
hard that they often wear themselves out in forty 
or fifty days. 



THE BEE 73 

The Drones. The drones are the male bees. They 
are larger than the workers and have no sting. 
Somebody has called them the ^'tramps'' of the bee 
family, because they do no work. When the workers 
tire of feeding the drones, they kill them and throw 
them out of the hive. (Fig. 45-c.) 

The Kind to Keep. Bees have been known to 
make from twenty-five to thirty pounds of honey in 
a year in one hive. The Italian bees are considered 
the finest, because their longer tongues can reach 
nectar in the flowers that the black bee .can not 
reach. They are also more gentle and easy to handle. 

Helping the Bee. To secure honey in the best 
shape for the market, the beekeeper places in the 
top of the hives frames which hold just one pound 
of honey. (Fig. 47.) These have a sheet of wax 
on which is impressed a network of six-sided cells. 
From this foundation, new cells are built by the 
bees. A machine has been invented that saves the 
time and energy of the bee in wax making. 

The Honey Extractor. Once a beekeeper's little 
son was playing with a piece of unsealed honey- 
comb in a basket. The lad had tied a piece of string 
to the handle. As he whirled the basket around 
and around in the air, his father noticed the honey 
dripping from the basket. When he found the cells 
of the honeycomb were nearly emptied without in- 
juring the comb he thought, ^'How much labor it 
would save the bees if they could fill their combs 
again instead of having to make new ones!'' So 




Courtesy of "Bee Culture," Medina, Ohio 

Flu. 47. It's all in Icnowing liow. 



THE BEE 75 

ne invented the honey extractor which empties many 
combs at once and gives ns the clear strained honey. 
It removes the honey from the comb without injury 
to the comb and without destroying its place in the 
frame; and these old combs are put back in the hive 
to be filled again. In this way bees are kept busy 
gathering honey instead of building comb. 

Keeping Them Warm in Winter. Bees must be 
protected from the cold in winter, or they may die. 
The ^'box hive" incloses the real hive, leaving a 
space to be filled with chaff and other packing ma- 
terial. A small opening is left so the bees can get 
out in cold weather. They must have exercise in 
the open air to keep well. 

Do Not Starve Bees. In removing honey from 
the hive, care should be taken that there is enough 
left to feed the bees through the winter season. 
Sometimes a keeper prefers to feed the bees on a 
sirup made of sugar, so he can sell all the honey. 

Another Service. Besides the income the bees 
bring the farmer in honey and wax, they do him 
another great service. They scatter pollen from one 
plant to another. Many plants cannot bear fruit 
or seed unless their pollen is mixed. The wind does 
some of this, but the bee is the best mixer. He 
dives into the heart of a flower for nectar and gets 
his body covered with pollen and takes it with him 
to the next plant. It is said clover would not grow 
on the island of New Zealand till bumblebees were 
taken there to scatter the pollen. 



76 ELEMENTARY AGEICULTURE 

Busy as a Bee. Now we know what busy, strange, 
helpful little creatures the bees are, and we do not 
wonder at the old saying, ''As busy as a bee." 
Every farm has enough plants to provide several 
swarms with pollen and nectar, so that each one 
may have its own honey. What one needs to know 
about beekeeping he may learn largely from books, 
because it is said that more books have been written 
about the bee than about any other domestic animal. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) Why were bees more highly prized in the olden 
times than to-day? (2) What plants are good for honey 
bees? (3) Where do the bees get the wax? (4) What 
is ''royal jelly"? (5) How do bee farmers aid their 
bees in honey making? (6) What other service does the 
bee perform besides making money? (7) Why would 
not clover grow in New Zealand at first? 

For exercises, problems and experiments, refer to the 
Appendix. 



CHAPTER X 



BIRDS 

A Story. A certain beautiful poem tells this 
story. Once upon a time the farmers of Killing- 
worth were troubled and angry, because the birds 
ate so much of their fruit and grain. So they held 
a town meeting and ordered every bird killed. Only 
one man, the village teacher, pleaded for the birds. 
He said it would be lone- 
ly without their cheerful 
songs. He reminded the 
farmers of the many in- 
sects which the birds de- 
voured. He told them that 
the few cherries and the 
small measure of grain 
the birds ate were only 
just wages for the hard 
work they did in protect- 
ing the farmers' crops 
from worms and bugs. 
But the farmers did not 
heed his warning. The 
parent birds were shot 
and the little ones 
starved in their nests. 
For one long summer 

77 




Fig. 48. The Red-Headed Wood- 
pecker, an enemy of tree 
insects and a friend of 
the farmer. 



78 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTUEE 



there were no birds in Killingwortli. Hundreds 
of caterpillars and cankerworms and small insects 

destroyed the crops and 
the leaves on the trees. 
The land looked like a 
desert. At last the fool- 
ish farmers saw their 
mistake. They hastened 
to send away for many 
cages of singing birds 
w^hich were again al- 
lowed to fly about at 
will. The story ends 
here, but we are glad 
to know that the birds 
we all love so much are 
of great use to us. 

Service to the Farm- 
ers. It will be impossi- 
ble to mention here all 
the helpful birds. Rob- 
ins hop about the fields 
and lawns and gardens, destroying grasshoppers 
and earthworms. The bluebirds, warblers, and 
chickadees work among the tree-tops, catching the 
insects which eat the tender leaves. The nuthatches, 
creepers, and woodpeckers (Fig. 48) patrol the bark 
of the trees, finding plant lice and borers. 

Other Friends of the Farmer. The swallows, fly- 
catchers, and kingbirds sail about the air, snapping 




Fig. 49. The Boholinl-, an enemy 

of grasshoppers, caterpillars, 

army worms and the like. 



BIRDS 



79 



up flies and mosquitoes. When darkness comes, the 
owls and night hawks go on duty and capture in- 
sects of many kinds. They swoop down and catch 
moles, meadow mice, and rats that do harm to 
farmers^ crops. 

Grosbeaks Are Friends. Grosbeaks are of such 
13articular service to the farmer that in many states 
they are protected by law. The rose-breasted gros- 
beak, or ''i^otato-bug'' bird makes a tenth of his 
diet of potato beetles (Fig. 77). He also eats the 
cucumber beetle. He is accused of eating peas, but 
he is so useful in the garden that it is worth one's 
trouble to put 
netting over the 
peas. He may also 
be kept away by 
a scarecrow. He 
is very fond of 
orchards, for can- 
kerworms, caterpil- 
lars, and the moths 
and scale insects 
that attack trees are 
his special delight 
at meal time. The 
cardinal, or red-bird, 
belongs to the gros- 
beak family. They 
have been accused ''^''^ ^ 

of pulling sprouting Fig. 50. The Meadow Lark. 




mmmi 



80 



ELEMENTAKY AGRICULTUKE 



grain, though the examination of the stomachs of 
five hundred cardinals did not prove this to be true. 
Tarring the Seed. To prevent the western gros- 
beaks from pulling the seed grain, the farmers soak 
the seed corn or other grain in a barrel of water and 
stir it thoroughly with a stick dipped in gas-tar. 

When the grain be- 
comes black, it is 
spread on sacks and 
dried in the sun. With 
this coating of tar, it 
is safe from the birds. 
Seed planted with a 
checkrow planter is 
not disturbed be- 
cause the earth is 
packed. 

Protecting Grain 
Fields. Some farmers 
protect their fields of 
ripe grain by plant- 
ing a few rows of mil- 
let on the edge of the 
field. Birds prefer 
millet to other grain, but it should be sowed so as to 
ripen at the same time as other grain. 

The Grosbeak and the Orchard. Mulberry and 
june-berry trees will protect an orchard in the same 
way. The black-headed grosbeak, if not prevented, 
eats a good deal of fruit; but it has been estimated 




Fig. 51. The 



CO nun 0)1 
Bohwhite. 



}uail or 



i 



BIRDS 



81 



that for every quart of fruit he eats, he consumes, 
by measure, a quart and a half of black olive scales, 
a quart of flower beetles, and a large quantity of 
codling moth babies and cankerworms. If this is 
true, he certainly saves much more fruit than he 
destroys. 

Policemen of the Air. Some one has called the 
birds the little policemen of the air, because they 
protect us from the robber bugs and caterpillars. 
Insects make up nine-tenths of the animal life of the 
world, and it has been estimated that a bird will 
destroy thirty insects daily, so 
he is a very valuable little 
policeman. 

Eating Weed Seeds. Another 
great foe of the farmer is weeds. 
In one state alone the tree spar- 
rows are reported to have eaten 
eight hundred seventy-five tons 
of weed seed in one season. 
This included smartweed, rag- 
weed, bindweed, crabgrass, and 
many others. The bobolink and 
meadow lark destroy many in- 
sect enemies of the crops and 
untold quantities of weed seed. 
(Figs. 49 and 50.) 

Big Appetites. Birds need a 
great deal of food, because thev 

,. ™, i. n i 1 ' ^IG. 52. Maling friends 

are so active. They eat all the of the birds. 




82 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

time they are not sleeping or caring for their young. 
One flicker was found who had in his stomach five 
thousand ants; a nighthawk ate at one time sixty 
grasshoppers, and a bob white (Fig. 51) ate seven- 
teen hundred seeds of weeds for one meal. 

Making Friends of Birds. Birds may be coaxed 
to stay near the house and garden by protecting 
them from cats and bird-dogs and by making nest- 
ing easy for them. One kind-hearted farmer built 
a home for a wren. It was a box six inches square 
and about eight inches high. He put a little perch 
on the front and an entrance hole only one inch 
across, so the sparrows could not get in. He did 
not paint it, but left it wood color, for birds do not 
like bright-colored dwellings. The same little wren 
came on the fifth day of May every year for seven 
years and kept house in it. Martins and bluebirds 
also settled down in his bird houses. (Fig. 52.) The 
farmer's wife coaxed the orioles to build their 
strange little pouch nests on the limbs of their elm 
trees, by putting out yarn and cotton twine on the 
bushes in the nesting season. Covered arbors were 
made and vines allowed to grow to make sheltered 
places for rearing their young. 

Sharing with the Birds. A big mulberry tree in 
the garden furnished food for many songsters as 
well as plenty of pies for the farmer's family. On 
top of posts in the yard, out of the reach of cats, were 
shallow dishes which provided water for the birds; 
and the farmer left an opening under the eaves of 



BIRDS 83 

his barn so the swallows could get in and keep house 
among the rafters, because they keep the barn free 
from gnats and flies. This bird-lover was not so 
cordial to crows, blue jays, sparrows, and chicken 
hawks, for they destroy the eggs and the young of 
the song birds. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) What birds get their food among the tree tops? 
(2) Do you know these birds? Get a bird book to aid 
you in learning them. (3) What kinds work on the 
bark of trees? (4) Name some that get their food on 
the wing. (5) How may orchards be protected from 
birds? (6) Why do not birds like bright-colored bird- 
houses ? 

For exercises, problems and experiments, refer to the 
Appendix. 



PART II. SOILS AND FARM CROPS 

CHAPTER XI 
SOILS 

What the Soils Do. The layer of dirt or crust 
that covers the earth is .called the soil. It is so thin 
in places that the rocks appear through it. In other 
places it is deep. Plants and insects, birds, beasts, 
and men, are all fed on what grows in this layer of 
soil. It is marvelous that soil will produce so many 
different kinds of plants. 

A Light Soil. As we go about we notice that the 
soil of some fields looks quite different from that 
of others. Here we find a loose soil in which we 
can easily see a large amount of common sand. 
There we find soil that contains so much clay that 
bricks can be made of it. The more sand a soil 
contains the easier it is to cultivate it. It works 
better under the plow and harrow. For this reason 
a sandy soil is said to be a light soil. 

Heavy Soil. Clay soils stick together and are 
hard to work, both when they are very wet and very 
dry. If we make clay into mud pies, they will crack 
when they are dry. Clay soils behave this way in 
the fields. We have all seen the big cracks in clay 
soil in the dry midsummer. This kind of soil is said 

84 



SOILS 85 

to be cold, because it holds so much water instead 
of allowing it to pass through easily. Because clay 
soils are sticky and hard to work, we call them 
heavy. 

Crops for Clay Soils. Clay soils are excellent for 
pastures, and they wear well. Apples, pears, and 
grapes do well on them. They also produce good 
crops of hay, wheat, oats, beets, cabbages, and tur- 
nips. But clay soils are too cold and wet for corn 
and too hard to allow potatoes to grow freely. 

Loam. A soil that is composed of clay, sand and 
decomposed organic matter is called loam. If there 
is more clay than sand, it is called a clay loam; if 
there is more sand, it is a sandy loam. The presence 
of decomposed organic matter gives it fertility. This 
is the best farm soil, for loam makes a good home 
for plant roots. It is easy to cultivate, and because 
it allows moisture to pass through it readily, no time 
is lost after rains in waiting for it to dry out. 

What the Soil Contains. We know that all soil 
is made up of fine particles of rock or sand, of 
decayed plants, of water, and of insect life. It also 
contains air and another plant life, which, perhaps, 
we do not know about, because we cannot see it. 
They are so small it would take hiany thousands 
of them to measure an inch. This low, tiny plant 
life we call bacteria. They are very useful in 
changing the soil so as to make it ready for plant 
food. Bacteria must have air to live, and that is 
one reason we must have air in the soil. 



86 ELEMENTAEY AGRICULTURE 

Plant Food. In order that plants may grow, they 
need certain foods that we call plant foods. Plants 
get this food from the soil and the air. In order 
not to rob the soil, we must know what our crops 
are taking out of it and how to put these plant 
foods back. 

Plants Need Many Foods. The plant needs a 
variety of foods, just as a hungry boy does. Ordi- 
nary plants need about thirteen different kinds. 
Some of these elements, or different kinds of foods, 
are obtained from the air, and others from the soil. 
To grow good crops, the soil must not only have 
enough of all the foods that the plants need, but 
they must be in such form that the roots can take 
them up and use them to build up the stalk, leaves, 
and fruit. 

Only Liquid Food. The foods taken from the soil 
are called mineral foods, because they are actually 
bits of minerals dissolved in water just as you dis- 
solve sugar or salt. Plants drink their food through 
tiny, hollow root hairs that take up this water solu- 
tion. They cannot take up solid particles of soil. 
So all this mineral plant food must be dissolved in 
water before it can pass into the plant and become a 
part of it. 

Water the Chief Plant Food. When soil is 
perfectly dry, plants cannot grow in it, for water 
generally forms about three-fourths of a plant's 
weight. Since the plant can take plant food from 
the soil only in liquid form, we see that water itself 



SOILS 37 

is not only an important plant food, but it carries to 
the stalk and leaves nearly all the other foods they 
need. After traveling through the rootlets np the 
stem to the leaves, the water that is not needed 
passes off from the leaves into the air. Therefore 
we see that plants take in much more water than 
they can nse, for the sake of the food that the water 
brings with it. We are told that timothy hay needs 
three hundred tons of water to obtain the other 
foods necessary to make one ton of hay; oats require 
five hundred tons of water for a ton of plant. 

Other Food. A bundle of wheat as it comes from 
the self-binder weighs about ten pounds, and nearly 
nine and one-half pounds of this is composed of 
water and the carbonic acid of the air. A large 
part of the farmer's labor is done to supply the 
elements that make up the other half pound of this 
bundle of wheat. It contains ten simple foods and 
no two in equal amounts. The wheat cannot spare 
any one of these ten plant foods. So when the soil 
loses one element of wheat food, it is no longer good 
wheat land. 

Humus. Different parts of the same fields may 
have different colors. The red color of some clays is 
due to the iron in them, but the brown or black color 
of soils is usually due to the humus that they con- 
tain. Humus is the decay of plants. The leaf mould 
which we find under the dead leaves in the woods 
is a good sample of humus. This is a very impor- 
tant element in soil. Humus not only makes the 



88 ELEMENTAKY AGRICULTURE 

soil dark and rich, but it makes the ground loose 
and mellow so air can get in. It also enables the 
soil to hold far more moisture than would be pos- 
sible witliout it. Plants, we know, need both air 
and moisture about their roots, so humus is a valu- 
able aid to the farmer. 

Soil and Surface Water. How does the soil 
obtain and keep moisture and give it over to the 
plants! If we go into the fields after a heavy rain, 
we notice muddy streams running from the plowed 
land, carrying off good, fine soil. Part of the water 
that falls as rain and snow, runs off instead of 
vsinking into the earth. This we call surface water, 
and it often does much damage to our fields; but 
much of the water that falls upon the ground sinks 
into the soil through cracks and holes and between 
the tiny grains of soil. When the land is dry the 
farmer likes a slow, steady rain, because it all soaks 
into the ground to feed plants, instead of running 
off as surface water and carrying good soil with it. 

Why Clay Soils Are Wet. As the water passes 
through the soil, each tiny grain of sand and each 
little particle of earth is covered with a coat of 
moisture. All through the soil are small holes or 
open spaces between the grains, and into these the 
water goes. In such fine soil as clay, Avliich packs 
closely, the spaces are small, and the water cannot 
pass through rapidly; so it is kept back in holes, 
open spaces, or puddles. In loose, coarse-grained 
earth, such as sand, the spaces are large; and the 



SOILS 89 

water passes tlirougii rapidly. This explains why 
clay soil is sticky and wet while sand is a dry soil 
and almost never forms puddles. 

Holding Water for Plants. It is easy to under- 
stand how water will move downward through the 
soil wherever there are openings or pores. "We also 
know that water-coated particles will pass on some 
of their moisture to dry ones that touch them, just 
as lamp oil passes up the wick. Thus, you see, mois- 
ture is always moving toward dry areas. This 
means a great deal to plants, for when their rootlets 
drink up the water that is around them and the soil 
about them is becoming dry, more moisture moves 
toward the dry place and supplies the thirsty plants. 
In this way plants may obtain nearly all the water 
in a good soil. 

Importance of Drainage. Some regions have con- 
siderable rainfall. Water soon forms a coat about 
each tiny grain of soil and fills the pore spaces. If 
more rain keeps falling, and the water cannot pass 
down easily through the soil, we have swampy land. 
This happens especially where the under drainage, 
as we say, is not good. In such swampy lands, the 
open spaces, or pores of the soil, are always full of 
water, and no air can penetrate the soil. 

Good Soil Contains Air. All plants need air about 
their roots as well as about their stems and leaves. 
The roots can not do their work without air, and 
they will not go deeper than the air can follow. 
Without air, seeds will not sprout, but will rot. 



90 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

Then, as we have said, there are the hosts of soil 
bacteria whose work it is to change certain plant 
foods for the plant's use; and these bacteria can not 
live without air. 

How to Drain Swampy Land. Level fields of clay 
soil are often unfit for crops, because they do not 
drain well. They are always water-soaked and 
swampy. Thus the farmer must drain such fields 
or allow them to lie idle. The best method is to 
tile-drain them. This is done by digging trenches 
from thirty to one hundred feet apart, according to 
the soil. In the bottom of these trenches tiles are 
laid. These tiles are merely hollow tubes about a 
foot long, made of clay and burnt hard like brick. 
They are laid end to end about four feet below the 
surface of the ground. Care must be taken to see 
that the tile line slopes gradually to some lower level 
at the creek or river. 

How Draining Helps. The tile drains carry away 
the excess of water. This allows air to enter the 
soil, and plant roots will follow as deep as the air 
and so get more plant food. Bacteria can also find 
better homes because of the air in the soil. 

A Map of the Tile Lines. The tile should not be 
too small, as small ones get filled up easily. Noth- 
ing smaller than three inches in diameter should be 
used, and in many places only four-inch tile are laid. 
Tiling a field costs a great deal of money and it 
should be done right. A map of the field may be 
kept showing just where every tile line is, so that 



SOILS 91 

if a section again becomes swampy, it will be easier 
to find any tile that has filled up and failed to do 
its work. 

The Farmer's Bacteria Friends. We have learned 
of the tiny bacteria plants that live in the soil and 
help to prepare food for the plants we cultivate. 
Some kinds of bacteria live in other places, and 
others are harmful; but these soil bacteria are very 
necessary and helpful, and the farmer works hard 
to make the soil right for them to grow. There are 
millions of bacteria in a cubic inch of fertile soil. 
They do not need sunlight as do most plants, but 
they do require air, moisture, warmth, and food. 

How They Help. Bacteria pounce upon all vege- 
table matter, such as leaves, wood, grass, and dead 
animal matter, that falls upon the ground and 
begins to decay, or rot. The bacteria break up all 
these substances into simple foods that are ready for 
the plant to drink. It would be of no use to manure 
soil if it were not for bacteria. 

Bacteria and Clover. Some kinds of bacteria set 
up housekeeping upon the tiny rootlets of certain 
plants such as clover, alfalfa, soy beans, and cow- 
peas. They take a certain element, that we call 
nitrogen, from the air and store it up in little 
bunches or swellings on the roots of these plants, 
ready for them to feed upon. Plants must have 
this nitrogen as food, and soil that contains abun- 
dance of it is rich soil. Every farmer boy knows 
that the fields are richest where clover, alfalfa, or 



92 ELEMENTAEY AGEICULTUKE 

cowpeas have been growing. (Fig. 53.) The reason 
is that the millions of bacteria have been at work 
upon their roots, storing up nitrogen for them and 
for other plants to feed upon. This explains why 
farmers use these crops to build up worn-out soils. 

Growing Several Crops. The farmer always raises 
some crops that pay better than others. Corn may 
pay better than oats, and yet it is wise to grow some 
oats, because the two crops can be worked at differ- 
ent times. A farmer may raise all the corn he has 
time to take care of and still raise a field of oats 
besides. Barley, oats, and spring wheat require 
attention at the same time. So the farmer usually 
chooses only one of these crops. Eye and winter 
wheat must be worked at the same time, and so the 
farmer grows but one of these in a season. 

Not Too Many Crops. It is better to raise a num- 
ber of crops than to put the whole farm into one, 
because the farmer wishes to provide work for him- 
self and his laborers all the time. It is not well, 
however, to have too many crops, because they may 
call for too much machinery. A farmer can not 
afford to buy the necessary tools for potatoes or 
wheat or orchards unless he has a fair-sized field 
in such crops. But small vegetables and fruit for 
home use should all be raised on every farm in 
gardens and small orchards. 

Rotation of Crops. Eotation means that the crops 
grown on each field are changed every year or two. 
Nearly every successful farmer does this. Still 



SOILS 



93 



there are fields that have never grown any crop but 
cotton; others, nothing but wheat. This is bad for 
the land, and the thoughtful farmer does not prac- 
tice it. 

Good Reasons for Rotation. By rotating and 
having several different crops, the laborers and 
teams are kept busy. The farmer has some crops 




iie-\ of AgiKuUuial Expel Until 

Fig. 53. Clover sod with potash and phosphorus fertilizer yielded 26 
bushels of corn per acre, shown at the left, as compared with 13.5 
bushels where potash and phosphorus icere used without clover, 
shown in the center, and 28.5 bushels where peat, potash, and phos- 
phorus were used, shown on the right. This shows the importance 
of adding nitrogen and organic matter to sandy soils. 

to sell and some to feed. He also escapes a total 
crop failure, and he keeps his soil in better condi- 
tion. By growing the same crops on the same fields 
year after year, certain weeds get the upper hand. 
By changing crops, these weeds are checked, be- 
cause the crops are worked at different times and 
in different ways. Then, too, there are some plant 



94 ELEMENTAKY AGKICULTUKE 

diseases and insects that will get a big start unless 
other crops are introduced on the field. When in- 
sects find their favorite crop gone and one gro wing- 
that they do not like, they are without food and 
starve to death. But perhaps the most important 
reason for rotation is to keep up the supply of 
humus in the soil by growing clover, alfalfa, or cow- 
peas and plowing them under to restore the vege- 
table mould or humus. 

Rotating in the North. There are different sys- 
tems or methods of rotating crops. Many good 
farmers in the Northern states divide their farms 
into five fields, and on each field they raise corn, 
followed by oats, then by wheat, then clover, and 
lastly by timothy. Then they plow the timothy 
stubble and again start with corn. Try to make 
five diagrams or maps to show what each field con- 
tains each of the five years. 

In Potato States. In some potato-raising sections, 
they have a three-year rotation: a crop of potatoes 
is followed by one of wheat or oats, and that by a 
clover crop. Such a farm is divided into three fields. 
In the Corn Belt a good rotation is corn for two 
years, next oats, and then clover and timothy. 

Rotation for Cotton. For cotton plantations a 
good system is: Cotton the first year, followed the 
second year by corn with cowpeas planted between 
the rows or sown broadcast just before the last cul- 
tivation of the corn; the third year oats are grown, 
and they are followed by cowpeas the same season. 



SOILS 95 

Phosphorus a Plant Food. We have learned that 
a plant needs many plant foods, but the most of 
them are usually found in the soil and in the air 
and water in great plenty. If the farmer needs to 
put nitrogen in his soil, he may do it best by sowing 
a crop of red clover, alfalfa, or cowpeas. But all 
plant foods .can not be put back into the soil by a 
crop. If a farmer raises and sells corn or wheat, 
he is taking out of his soil and shipping away one 
important plant food called phosphorus. Most of 
the phosphorus that corn and other grains require 
before they can grow well, they store up in their 
seed or grain. And when this grain is sent away 
to market, it takes with it three-fourths of the phos- 
phorus used by the crop. 

Putting Phosphorus Back. This must be put back 
into the soil somehow; and it may be done by pur- 
chasing bone meal from stockyards companies who 
buy and slaughter our stock, or by purchasing 
manure for our fields or by buying rock phosphate 
from the places in Tennessee or Florida where this 
mineral is mined and ground for fertilizer. 

Keeping Up the Land. Phosphorus is the plant 
food most likely to be wanting in our rolling 
l^rairies, in the hilly timber lands, and in soils worn 
out by long cultivation. If clover will not grow 
well, one may feel pretty sure his fields need phos- 
phorus, and, perhaps, lime. For most farms, all that 
is needed to keep them up is plenty of rock phos- 
phate, with a crop of clover, alfalfa, or cowpeas, in 
rotation and all the manure made on the farm. 



CHAPTER XII 
PLANTS AND HOW THEY GROW 

Learning about Plants. Since men and animals 
live largely on plants, and farmers are kept busy 
growing crops to feed the world, we want to know 
more about how plants grow and produce seed. We 
may easily see what the animals about us eat and 
drink, but it is not so easy to learn just how plants 
eat and grow and bear fruit. 

Dividing Their Work. Plants need food, water, 
and air, just as animals do. They also need warmth 
and light. The plant has different parts — a stem, 
roots, leaves, and flowers. It divides its work up 
among these parts. The roots of the plants have 
their work, and it is different from that of the stem 
and leaves. 

Roots and Their Work. Let us first look at the 
roots. Pull up a radish from the garden, and you 
notice that the upper part of the root is large and 
round and is stored full of food. Below is a tap 
root which grows smaller and smaller to the end 
several inches down. All along this tap root are 
tiny rootlets with root hairs branching off from 
them. These root hairs cover only the tips of the 
smallest rootlets, but they extend out in all direc- 
tions. They are very close together, for often there 
are as many as thirty thousand on one square inch. 

96 



PLANTS AND HOW THEY GROW 97 

They are not young roots, because they never grow 
larger. They are only tiny little hollow tubes which 
contain sap. They have no pores, or holes for water 
to enter, but it easily soaks through their thin walls. 
Thus these root hairs drink in the soil water which 
contains many of the plant foods; and the sap car- 
ries this watery food up along the larger roots and 
stem to the leaves. Here the sunshine helps to make 
the plant food ready to build up the stem, leaves, 
and the fruit of the plant. The larger roots do not 
take plant food from the soil. Their work is to hold 
the plant firmly in its place in spite of storms and 
heavy rains. When a plant is taken up to be trans- 
planted, most of the small rootlets with their many 
long hairs are broken off. Perhaps you can now 
understand why a plant is so likely to wilt when it 
is transplanted. 

The Stem. The stem, or trunk, bears the leaves 
and holds them up in the air and sunshine. It car- 
ries the watery plant foods from the roots up 
through the outer wood layer to the leaves. The 
materials, or starch and sugar from the leaves, pass 
down through the bark to the part where they are 
needed to enlarge the plant. 

The Leaves. But more interesting than roots or 
stem are the leaves. They serve as so many stom- 
achs where the plant food is digested and made 
ready for use. The chief work of the leaves is to 
make the plant foods over into starch and sugar. 
They take a large part of this starch and sugar, 



98 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

called carbon, from the air, but the other parts come 
to the leaves through the root hairs. The leaves 
also give off to the air all the water that is not 
needed by the plants. If the leaves give off more 
moisture than the roots supply, as they often do on 
very hot days, the plant wilts in order to prevent 
further evaporation. 

The Flower. The starch and sugar made by the 
leaves is either stored up for food or used at once 
to build plant tissue. When enough has been stored, 
the plant begins to flower. The flower is sometimes 
beautiful like the apple blossom, but often, as in 
the wheat or oats, it is not showy. 

The Seed. The flower of plants has a very im- 
portant work to do, because it contains the parts 
which create the fruit. The fruit contains the seeds 
from which new plants may be grown. If the flower 
fails to do its work, there will be no fruit, no seeds, 
and no new plant, unless a new plant can be started 
from a slip or cutting of the old plant. 

The Father and Mother. The flowers of different 
plants differ very much, but they usually have two 
parts. One is the ^'pistir' or mother part, which 
contains the ovary or seed food. This seed food 
will not grow into seed unless it receives some pollen 
or yellow dust that grows on another part called 
the ' ' stamen. ' ' The seed itself is a tiny baby plant 
all tucked under a good cover with food enough for 
it to live on until it can send out rootlets into the 
ground. 



PLANTS AND HOW THEY GROW 99 

The Corn Flowers. Every plant must have its 
flowers with their stamens and pistil, but the sta- 
mens and pistil are not always together in the same 
flower. Examine a cornstalk as it grows. The 
tassel is the stamen, or father flower, with its yellow 
dust, or pollen; and the ear is the pistil, or mother 
flower. If the pollen does not fall from the tassel 
on the silks of the ear to fertilize the ear, there will 
not be a grain of corn on the cob. 

Carrying the Pollen. The corn is only one of 
many plants that have their male and female flowers 
separate. Such plants depend partly upon the wind 
to carry the pollen from the father flower to the 
pistil where the new seed is to grow. Some plants 
depend upon insects to carry the pollen for them. 
So these plants have developed bright colored 
flowers that the insects can easily see. They also 
secrete a sweet food, or nectar, to reward the in- 
sects for their trouble. They hold out bright red 
and yellow and blue petals and say to the insects, 
*'Here you can get good honey.'' 

Night Workers. Some plants depend upon in- 
sects that fly only at night to carry their pollen. 
These plants do not have bright flowers, because 
colors cannot be seen well in the darkness. They 
have white flowers; and to aid the insects in finding 
them they have a strong, sweet odor or fragrance 
that guides their friends. The insects come from 
far and near for the sweets. They brush against 
the stamens and get covered with yellow pollen dust. 



100 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTUEE 

Away they go to other flowers, leaving some of this 
pollen on every plant they touch. When they go 
in deep for the honey, they leave pollen on the pistil 
just where it is needed. 

Pollen from Other Plants. Plants bear the strong- 
est and best fruit and seeds when the pollen has 
been brought to them from another plant. In a 
cornfield the ears on one stalk may receive pollen 
from its own tassel and from a dozen others stand- 
ing near. Sometimes w^ien a farmer wants corn for 
seed, he goes about a certain part of his corn lot 
before the silks come out and cuts off the tassels 
of all the poor stalks. In this way he allows the 
ears to receive pollen from only the strongest plants. 

Kinds of Plants. There are thousands of differ- 
ent kinds of plants in the world. Perhaps there 
was a time when the world was young when there 
were very few plants. But as they spread over the 
earth they found different kinds of homes. Some 
seeds w^ere gradually carried into cold regions, and 
others into hot places; some found wet spots, and 
others came into deserts. Some found homes on 
high, rough mountain tops where the storms raged 
about them, while others fell into low, shady nooks 
where they were protected. 

How They Came to be Different. As the plants 
were slowly carried into such different kinds of 
homes, they kept fighting for life and food. Often 
many plants were struggling for air and sunshine 
on the same little spot; and only those that proved 



PLANTS AND HOW THEY GROW IQl 

good fighters lived. Slowly but surely many of 
these plants changed to meet their new surround- 
ings and became unlike their early parents and even 
unlike their close kin. Each one set to work to pro- 
tect itself and get its own food, and thus it slowly 
developed new parts, new ways of growing, and 
new ways of fighting for food. Only the best and 
strongest plants lived to spread their seed. In this 
way the world came to be covered with untold 
multitudes of different kinds of plants. 

One Interesting Habit. It is interesting to study 
about the habits of different plants and how they 
grow and spread their kind. One of the important 
things about them that the farmer needs to know is 
how they scatter their seed, because many weeds 
grow and fight for life where the farmer does not 
want them. 

Scattering Their Seed. Some plants, like the 
cocoanut, grow their seed in a hard shell which is 
waterproof, and in this they float on streams and 
rivers to new homes. The seeds of the maple and 
ash trees have wings, and on these they sail away 
across the fields wherever the wind will carry them. 
The dandelion seed has a queer little balloon on 
which the wind carries it to some far-away home. 
Then we know the burdocks and stick tights that 
catch in our clothes or fasten themselves on passing 
animals and hold tight for a long ride, to fall at 
last and set up housekeeping in a new region. Any 
boy or girl who will examine the seeds of plants 



102 ELEMENTAEY AGRICULTURE 

and do a little thinking will discover many inter- 
esting and wonderful secrets about their different 
habits. 

How Man Helps. Man has chosen certain plants 
that furnish food for him and his flocks, and these 
he tries to help to good homes where they will grow 
and bring forth their harvest of grain or fruit. He 
spreads and sows these plants in several different 
ways. He sows the seed of the common grains or 
cereals, and covers them with earth. Sweet potatoes 
are grown from slips or plants; Irish potatoes, from 
the "eyes'^ of the potato; grapevines from cuttings 
or twigs clipped from the vine. Sugar cane is grown 
by planting a short piece of the stalk. Many plants 
do not come true from seed, and man has learned 
to grow them by grafting or budding. A bud or 
graft twig is taken from one plant and so carefully 
put upon another that it will grow as part of the 
plant. And the strange thing about it is that it will 
produce its own kind of fruit and not the kind of 
the plant on which it is grafted. There is no end to 
the wonderful things man is learning to do with 
plants. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) What are some of the parts of a plant? (2) How 
do root hairs differ from true roots? (3) How do root 
hairs take in the plant food? (4) Can you now tell why 
a transplanted plant often wilts or dies? (5) How does 
the food pass from the roots to the leaves? (6) Why 
does it need to go to the leaves at all? (7) Why do 
plants have seeds? 



CHAPTER XIII 

TILLAGE AND FARM MACHINERY 

Sowing and Reaping in Olden Times. For thou- 
sands of years after men learned to plant seed they 
tilled the soil with a forked stick. Their only object 
seemed to be to get the seed covered in the ground. 
In Egypt for long ages seed was scattered broad- 
cast by hand and herds of cattle were driven over 
the ground to tramp it in. These ancient people 
reaped their grain with a crooked knife and beat 
the kernels from the husks and chaff with a stick, or 




Fig. 54. Hie hcsi and chcai'tst fcrtUizcr. 

flail. Sometimes they drove their cattle over it on 
the barn floor to thresh it. Then it was ground into 

103 



104 ELEMENTARY AGEICULTURE 

meal in stone basins with stone pestles. The crooked 
stick also served to dig the root crops. 

Wearing Out the Soil. Men of those times did not 
know how to cultivate crops. They knew that weeds 
injured the crops, but they did not know that it Avas 
because the weeds took the plant food, water, and 
air that their grain needed. When the land failed 
to bring a good harvest, the farmer concluded that 
the field needed a rest; so he rested it, or, as we say, 
let it lie fallow for one year. He did not know 
what we do to-day — that his land only needed a 
rotation of ,crops, that is, a different crop planted 
each year, or that barnyard manure would make it 
fertile again (Fig. 54). 

Jethro Tull. About two hundred years ago there 
lived in England a landlord named Jethro Tull. He 
watched his crops closely and soon saw that the 
fields he worked or tilled the most brought the 
largest crops. He taught other farmers that tillage 
was the most important part of farming. He be- 
lieved that fields would never wear out if they 
were always cultivated thoroughly. He thought that 
plants took their food in solid little grains or parti- 
cles, and the only thing needed was to break up the 
soil very fine and the plants would eat it as a calf 
eats bran. We know that Tull was mistaken in 
thinking that plants take their food in solid form, 
but he did a great service to his farmer friends and 
to all the farmers since that time by showing them 
how important tillage is (Figs. 55a and 55b). 



TILLAGE AND FARM MACHINERY 



105 




Courtesy U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 
Fig. 55a. A field in poor tilth. Crops in such cloddy soil have a 
small chance. 




Courtesy U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 
Fig. o5b. A -field in good tilth. The hcst time to cidtivate a crop is 
before planting it. 

Feeding Plants. We know that plants can nse 
only the plant food that is prepared for them. If 
it is not in the right form, it makes no difference 



106 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

how much food is in the soil, the plants will die 
in the midst of plenty. It is the farmer's task to 
see that the plant food in his soil is ready for his 
crops to use, and he tills the soil so that moisture 
can enter and be kept near the roots. Tillage 
loosens the soil so air can enter. Tillage also keeps 
down the weeds that steal the plant food and keep 
out the sunlight and warmth that the crops need. 
We can see that a great deal depends upon the 
farmer's stirring his soil at the right time. 

Keeping Moisture in the Soil. The well-tilled soil 
is broken into very fine grains or particles (Fig. 55). 
These fine particles will hold much more water than 
coarse ones, because each tiny grain has its own 
coat of moisture. This, you remember, is the reason 
clay soil will hold more moisture than sandy soil. 
Clay does not drink it in so rapidly, but it holds on 
to it better. 

Moisture passes easily from wet grains of earth 
to dry ones that touch them, so we see that the 
looser the soil is the fewer are the particles which 
touch one another. If they do not touch one another, 
water cannot pass so easily from wet particles to 
dry ones and in this way climb to the surface and 
pass off into the air. The surface soil especially 
must be loose to keep the moisture from evaporat- 
ing, or getting back into the air. 

The Dust Mulch. The loose layer of surface, 
w^hich we call dust mulch, acts just like a blanket. 
Turn over a log or a board in the barn lot in the 



TILLAGE AND FARM MACHINERY 107 

spring and you will find the soil under it more damp 
than the ground not covered. The board has kept 
the moisture from passing off into the air. When 
we remember how much moisture crops need; we 
will see how important the dust mulch is. Every 
time it rains hard it packs this mulch down, and the 
farmer should cultivate his crop again, to loosen the 
top soil. 

Dry Farming. Perhaps you have read or heard of 
dry farming. In many places in our great West 
there is not enough rainfall in a year to raise a crop. 
But if all that falls in two years could be kept, it 
would raise one crop. The farmers have learned 
that if they keep a dry mulch on the ground and 
save all the rainfall of one year, they have a pretty 
good chance to raise a crop the second year. It 
means that they must cultivate or till the ground 
for two seasons to get one crop, but that is better 
than raising nothing at all on these wide, dry areas. 
Where rainfall is less than twenty inches per year, 
dry farming or irrigation must be practiced. 

Irrigation. Two-fifths of the land of the United 
States is too dry to produce regular crops without 
irrigation. By irrigation is meant the storing of 
water in lakes and reservoirs by means of huge 
dams. This is done in the rainy season, when there 
is plenty to be had. This water is then turned on 
the fields by means of ditches when crops are grow- 
ing, where it takes the place of rainfall (Fig. 56). 
Some reservoirs are supplied from rivers that flow 



108 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



the year round, while others must be filled in the 
rainy season. The United States Government is 




Fig. 56. A private irrigation plant. 



spending millions of dollars in the dry sections to 
save for crops some of the water that is going to 
waste. 

Making Machinery Better. A slight improvement 
on the crooked stick was a rude plow made from 
several sticks bound with thongs of skin. This was 
used after the ox had been taught to bear the yoke. 
Farming with such tools was hard and toilsome 
labor with little reward. A brush dragged over the 
plowed ground was probably the first harrow. 

Copper Tools. It was a great step forward when 
some one learned to smelt copper. Though copper 



TILLAGE AND FARM MACHINERY 



109 



is soft and will not take on a sharp edge, yet it made 
far better tools than did sticks. The next step was 
made when it was found that by mixing tin ore with 
copper a mnch harder tool could be made, with a 
better edge. This mixture is called bronze. Bronze 
tools were used for untold ages until some clever 
man found out how to make a fire hot enough to 
smelt iron ore. When iron tools and weapons were 
made, we have the beginning of all the wonderful 
machinery in use to-day. 

The First Iron Tools. Iron tools were few and 
costly at first, because the warriors needed all the 
iron they could get for their weapons. But men 
learned at last to make hillside furnaces for smelt- 
ing iron ore, and then the farmer got a few iron 




Jig, 57, Fut the soil in good tilth with a disk harrow before sowing. 



110 



ELEMENTABY AGRICULTURE 



tools. The day came when some clever farmer put 
an iron share on his plow to cut the soil. From that 
day to this men have gradually improved iron farm 
tools, and the splendid horse-power machines of all 




Fig. 58. A tractor engine drawing four ijlows. 

descriptions which do farm work to-day are the 
result of the wonderful inventions of many bright 
minds. 

Farm Machinery of To-Day. The poorest farmer 
of to-day has a plow to turn the sod and stir the 
soil deeply; he has a cultivator to tear and break 
the soil, and a harrow to make it fine like ashes 
for the dust mulch (Fig, 57). Certain soils that 



TILLAGE AND FARM MACHINEEY 



111 



are sandy and too loose need rollers to pack them 
slightly. Every sort of harvester has been devised 
for gathering the crop. But farmers have not been 
content with horse power alone. They have har- 
nessed the wind to their windmills, they have 
hitched their plows and harvesters to great steam 
engines (Fig. 58), and they are using the power 
of gasoline engines to do many kinds of work about 
the farm (Fig. 59). Even electricity may be had 
where there is a waterfall to make it cheaply. 

Care of Machinery. It is important that the 
farmer take good care of his machinery and tools. 
More plows have been rusted out by the weather 
than have b^en worn out by use. There are three 
good rules for every farm. Keep all tools under a 
good roof when they are not in use. See that all 
machinerv, wagons, and the like are kept well 




Fig. 59. A gas engine is a great labor saver on thr farm. 



112 ELEMENTAEY AGRICULTUKE 

painted, so they will last longer and save the farmer 
from buying new ones early. Use plenty of oil to 
save wear on all machinery. Oil and paint cost 
money; but if thirty-five cents' worth of paint will 
make a thirty-five-dollar machine last several years 
longer, it pays to use the paint. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) Who was Jethro Tiill and what do we owe to him? 
(2) What do we mean by saying that plant food must 
be in the right form? (3) How may a farmer save the 
moisture in his soil for the crop? (4) What is meant 
by a dust mulch? (5) What is dry farming? (6) In 
Avhat different ways is water obtained for irrigation? (7) 
What are the objections to copper tools? (8) In what 
way is bronze better for tools? (9) Why was it so long 
before iron tools were made? (10) What invention do 
you think has meant most to the farmer? (11) Why? 

For exercises, problems and experiments, refer to the 
Appendix. 



CHAPTER XIV 
CORN 

America and Corn Discovered. When Columbus 
sailed toward the west over the unknown ocean, he 
hoped to reach the rich cities of Asia and the Spice 
Islands. Here he expected to obtain a rich cargo 
of spices, some of which were worth their weight 
in gold. But, instead of reaching China, Columbus 
landed upon a new world where white men had 
never been before. Instead of rich cities, he found 
only a vast wilderness inhabited by savages whom 
he named Indians. The Indians lived by hunting 
and fishing and by raising a few plants which were 
new and strange to Columbus and his sailors. These 
were squashes, tobacco, and maize, or corn. Colum- 
bus never knew what a wonderful golden treasure 
he had found in this Indian corn. It has come to 
be one of the most valuable crops in the world. 
When the corn crops fail there is a scarcity of food 
for rich and poor and hard times for everybody for 
many months. 

Corn Saves the Pioneers. This Indian corn was a 
great blessing to the early immigrants from Europe, 
for the wheat and rye which they had brought with 
them would grow only in well-tilled fields and these 
pioneers w^ere poor farmers with poor tools. There 
were no well-tilled fields, and men would not work. 

113 



114 ELEMENTAEY AGRICULTURE 

They would have starved if the Indians had not fur- 
nished them with ,corn. The Indians taught the 
white men from Europe how to raise corn and how 
to make from it dishes fit for a king to eat. 

Indian Farming. The Indian methods of farming 
were very crude and simple, for they knew very little 
about tilling the soil. The Indian squaws killed a 
patch of forest trees by cutting a girdle around each 
one when the sap was running in the spring. After 
the trees died and the sunlight shone in, the squaws 
scratched the grains of seed corn into the ground, 
with a crooked, sharp stick for a hoe. Here, without 
the use of plow or harrow, the corn sprang up in the 
rich earth, and a harvest of yellow ears provided 
food for winter. 

Where Corn Grows. Since that time corn has 
been one of the chief crops of the American farmer 
in most sections, and to-day it is the most important 
of all. Corn can be raised in nearly every part of 
North America. In the North, where the summers 
are short, the farmers have developed a kind that 
grows only three or four feet high and that will 
ripen in seventy days. In the Southern countries 
of Mexico and South America there are kinds of 
corn that grow more than twenty feet high and 
require six months in which to ripen. 

The Corn Belt. Corn is now raised in many coun- 
tries, but about three-fourths of the world's supply 
is grown in the United States, and nearly one-half 
of the world's supply in the seven states known as 



CORN 115 

the Corn Belt. They are Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, 
Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, and Ohio. The Corn 
Belt supplies many other states and countries with 
its surplus of corn. Besides a good soil in which 
to grow, corn needs hot weather with long days of 
briglit sunshine and a great amount of rain. 

A Corn Train. If the corn crop of the United 
States in one year was placed in wagons, with fifty 
bushels in each load, and each wagon and team had 
been allowed twenty feet of space, the train of corn 
would have reached more than nine times around 
the earth at the equator. 

Corn Land Valuable. Where corn thrives, it 
yields about twice as much food for each acre as is 
produced by any of the other grains. That is the 
reason why land in the Corn Belt is very high in 
price. Corn is grown in many places where only 
a half-crop is obtained, for a half-crop of corn yields 
as much food as a full crop of wheat or rye. 

Choosing Good Seed. It is believed that the farm- 
ers in any state in the Union could increase the yield 
of corn from five to twenty bushels an acre if they 
were trained in choosing their seed corn. In order 
to choose well the farmer must be a good judge of 
an ear of corn. To know a prize ear is not such a 
difficult lesson to learn. 

The Prize Ear. A perfect ear should be round, 
tapering, and full and strong in the middle. It 
must be firm to the touch, and the kernels should 
not be loose on the cob, as this shows that the ear 



116 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTUEE 




Fig. 60. A prize ear. 



is not thoroughly ripened. The distance around the 
ear one-third of the distance from the butt should 
be about three-fourths of the entire length. The 

rows of kernels must 
be straight, and there 
should not be fewer 
than sixteen nor more 
than twenty - eight 
rows on the cob. In most sections the ear is from 
eight and one-half to ten inches long, and it should 
be filled out to the tip (Fig. 60). 

Good Kernels. The kernels to be planted should 
be wedge-shaped, w^ith the edges touching those next 
to them their entire length from crown to cob. They 
should have deeply indented crowns without pointed 
or sharp corners. The color needs to be true to 
variety and free from mixture. 

Cobs. Ordinary types of white corn should have 




Fig. 61. A cob may be too large or too small. 

white cobs, and yellow corn should have red cobs. 
However, certain varieties of types vary from this 



COKN- 



117 



rule. The deeper or longer the kernel, the greater 
the proportion of corn to cob. An extremely large 
cob means late ma- 
turity and less corn 
in proportion to cob 
(Fig. 61). The ears 
should carry their 
size well out to the 
tips. The widei 
the furrows between 
the rows of grain on 
the cob, the lower the 
proportion of corn 
to cob (Fig. 62). 

When to Select 
Seed. Some farmers 
are satisfied to 
choose the finest 
ears from the crib, 
but a better way is 
to select from the 
fields at husking 
time. By taking- 
seed from stalks 
bearing two well- 
formed ears, the fig. 62 
next crop will have 
more two -eared 
plants, and thus the 
crop will be larger. In order to choose seed for any 
crop, it is safer to see the plant on which it grew. 



:% 




L i 


^^ 


1 




11 


■ 


1 




ll 


1 


1 


^3 


II 


^^Kl 


1 




II 


■ 


m 




HI 


■H 


^ 




w ^ 


^^ 



Space between Teem els next to 
cob, objectionable. Ears Nos. 1 and 2 
are same length and circumference. 
Ear No. 2 sheiled out 33 per cent more 
corn by weight than No. 1. 



118 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

because like produces like. Careful selection of seed 
is the most profitable farm work. 

Curing the Seed. Every ear intended for planting 
must be gathered before the autumn freezes, since 
freezing corn that is not well dried injures the seed 
germ. Seed corn should be hung up where the air 
can circulate about it freely. A good place to hang 
seed corn is in the attic over the kitchen, with the 
windows open. 

The Corn Tree. The "corn tree'^ is a device for 
drying corn. It consists of an upright post driven 
full of small-headed nails. An ear of corn is easily 
stuck on each nail by jamming it into the pith at 
the butt end. A wall driven full of nails will serve 
the same purpose of holding the ears apart so they 
will dry quickly. 

Testing Seeds. Every ear intended for seed 
should be tested to see if the corn will sprout or 
germinate. Take six seeds from each ear and plant 
them for a test, keeping the ear marked by number. 
This will insure a good stand and prevent replant- 
ing, which causes a spotted field and a poor and 
uneven crop (Fig. 63). 

Improving Corn. A good way to improve the 
variety is to plant the seed from the hundred best 
ears on one side of the field and to choose the seed 
for the next year from this planting. In this way a 
farmer will improve his crop every year. 

Planting Evenly. To-day most farmers plant with 
machines, and the planter will not drop the corn 



CORN 



119 



evenly unless the kernels are of the same size. It is, 
therefore, wise to shell off and discard the kernels 




Fig. 63. Testing twelve ears of seed corn. 

on both the tip and butt of the ear which are of 
irregular size and shape. The corn grader is a 
machine which will do this work of sifting out the 
poorly-shaped kernels, or it may be done by hand 
if the crop is small. It is a good plan to test the 
corn planter to be sure it will drop three kernels in a 
hill. 



120 ELEMENTAEY AGEICULTUEE 




Fig. 64. TJic old way of spreading manure leaves the field unevenly 
fertilized and the crop grows and ripens unevenly. 

Making the Soil Rich. The farmer prepares liis 
fields well before sowing. He adds to the soil by 
spreading over it barn-yard manure, for manure 
contains the most plant food of anything he can 
put on his fields (Figs. 64 and 65). Instead of 
spreading manure on the corn lot, the farmer may 
choose fields to plant where he has the year before 
raised a crop of clover or cowpeas, because he 
knows that these two crops enrich the soil for corn 
(Fig. 53). Sometimes he buys a fertilizer made of 
certain foods which the plant needs, but this costs 
a great deal of money. 

How to Plow. To prepare the ground the good 
farmer plows rather deep to bring fresh soil up to 
the air and sunshine. The air and sunshine help to 
make the plant food ready for the little corn rootlets 



CORN 



121 



to take up. The ground should not he plowed when 
the soil is very wet, for it stays in hard lumps and is 
not easily broken up so the roots can reach into the 
earth. 

How to Keep the Ground Moist. The plow is fol- 
lowed by a disk or spring-tooth harrow (Fig. 66) 
until all clods are broken and the surface is mellow 
and fine like ashes. This ashy top soil acts like a 
blanket to keep the moisture in the ground from 
escaping. 

Planting the Crop. Field corn should be planted 
in rows about three and one-half feet apart. Years 
ago a few grains of seed were dropped into each 
hill by hand and covered with a hoe, but to-day the 
farmer uses a checkrow planter drawn by a team. 




Fig. 65. Manure fihouhl he spread evenly. 



This machine plants the corn so it can be cultivated 
both ways and be kept clean more easily. 



122 



ELEMENTAEY AGRICULTUEE 



Keeping the Weeds Down. A few days after 
planting, the field should be harrowed to kill the 
grass and weeds that are ready to sprout, because 
they grow faster than the corn. When the corn is 
a few inches high the harrow must be used again to 
break the crust and to supply air to the soil as well 
as to keep the weeds and grass down. 

Plowing the Corn. The field should be cultivated 
two or three times more, but after the corn roots 
have spread out between the rows, it is not safe to 
plow too close to the row or too deep, for fear of 
breaking off millions of little rootlets that are feed- 
ing the plant. This applies also to the raising of sweet 
corn or pop corn and other crops needing tillage. 




Fig. 66. Spring-tooth harrow. 



CORN 



123 



Gathering the Crop. When the lower leaves on 
the stalks begin to die, the corn is ready to cnt. 




Fig. 67. The corn cutter. 

This may be done with a hand cutter or with a corn 
harvester (Fig. 67). About sixty hills are cut and 
gathered into one shock. The tops are bound to- 
gether so the shock will stand while the corn cures, 
which requires about six weeks. When the leaves 
are dry the husking takes place, and the ears are 
stored in well-ventilated cribs built high from the 
ground and protected from the rats and mice. Send to 
the Department of Agriculture for plans for the crib. 



124 



ELEMENTAKY AGKICULTURE 



Saving It All. In some places the corn is husked, 
or picked, standing in the field and the cornstalks 
are burned. This is a great waste, for cornstalks 
make good food for horses, cattle, and sheep, and 
they like it very much. A machine which husks 
the corn and shreds the tops and leaves makes a 
feed called corn stover that is as good for live stock 
as timothy hay. Making fodder into stover saves it all. 




Fig. 68. Filling the silo. 

A Great Discovery. Every farmer knows that 
cattle like green feed much better than dry. But for 
a long time nobody knew how to keep feed green 
through the winter. Many years ago, in Europe, 
a stack of wet, green grass was covered with earth 
by accident. When winter came this stack was 
uncovered and the grass was still green and juicy. 
It was greatly relished by the cattle. 



COEN 125 

Building Silos. After that, farmers began to dig 
pits in the ground to keep feed green. Such pits 
were called silos, and to-day they are made above 
ground of cement or wood and placed near the cattle 
barns (Fig. 68). Cattle will eat more silage than 
fodder, and cows fed on it give more milk. When 
corn is grown for the silo it is planted about one 
stalk every seven inches, in row^s three and one-half 
feet apart. 

Corn a Treasure. Corn is the backbone of farm- 
ing in our country. Not only is it good for live 
stock of all kinds, but it feeds more people than 
any other grain except rice. Many useful things 
are made from corn besides the fodder, grain, and 
meal for feeding. The silks are used in the making 
of filters, and corn husks are made into mattresses. 
Pith is used for the packing of cofferdams of battle- 
ships. Oil, varnish, starch, alcohol, and many other 
articles are made from corn. There is one factory 
in the United States that makes forty-two different 
corn products. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) Which has meant more to the world the riches of 
the Indies or the golden corn? (2) Why? (3) Why 
was corn more necessary to the early pioneers than wheat 
or barley? (4) What makes land in the corn belt so 
valuable? (5) What is the best way to choose seed 
corn? (6) Why does plowing ground when it is wet 
injure it? (7) What harm is done by cultivating corn 
deep after it is waist high? 

For exercises, problems and experiments, refer to the 
Appendix. 



CHAPTER XV 
WHEAT 

White Bread. Nearly the entire wheat crop of 
the world is used for human food. Wheat bread is 
such a common food in our country now that we do 
not realize that it is still .considered a great treat 
by some classes of people in other parts of the 
world. The poor peasants in many lands eat bread 
made of rye, barley, or millet, because it is cheaper 
than ^' white bread.'' Millions of people in Asia 
eat rice, but wheat flour makes a light bread that 
is more healthful and tempting than that made by 
any other grain; and as fast as the poor classes of 
people can afford it, they demand wheat bread. 

The First Wheat Farmers. Who the first people 
were to raise wheat we do not know, because it hap- 
pened, like so many other interesting things, before 
men learned to write. Neither do we know where 
it first grew. The ancient lake-dwellers of Switzer- 
land raised a kind of grain very much like our 
wheat. Some scholars believe that the early home 
of wheat was in the Euphrates Valley, in western 
Asia. Others think it first grew in Palestine. A 
kind of wheat has lately been found growing wild 
on the mountains of Palestine, and some people are 
sure that our wheat has come from this wild kind. 
Wheat was grown in China many hundred years 

126 



WHEAT 



127 



before Christ lived, and the Chinese said that it was 
given to them direct from heaven. 

Wheat in America. Wheat was the first grain 
brought to our country by the Jamestown colony 
in 1607. These pioneers cut down forest trees to 
build a fort, and in the cleared places they sowed 




Fi(,. (i'j. Hit ifdi) hook, an ancitnt tool for reaping r 

wheat. The first crops were very poor, but they 
wanted white bread, so they kept planting a little 
more each year. The crops were cut with the reap 
hook, or sickle, which is merely a knife with a 
curved blade (Fig. 69). It was threshed by being 
trod upon by horses and oxen. 

The World's Crop. Our country does not produce 
so large a part of the world's wheat crop as it does 
of the corn. Europe raises twice as much wheat as 
does North America. European countries get twice 



128 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

as much from an acre as we do, so they can raise it 
as cheaply as we do on our large farms in the West. 

Kinds of Wheat. There are several kinds of 
wheat. Some kinds are sown in the fall and remain 
on the field through the winter. Such kinds are 
called winter wheat. Others are sown in the spring 
and are called spring wheat. 

Climate. Wheat is better suited to short summers 
than is ,corn, so it can be grown much farther north. 
For several years farmers have been moving by 
hundreds to the wide prairies of western Canada 
for this purpose, and they are making it a great 
wheat country. 

Preparing the Soil. This crop will grow on a 
great variety of soils, but it seems to thrive best on a 
light clay. The land that is to be used for winter 
wheat needs to be plowed as early in the summer 
as possible. Such early plowing loosens the ground 
so it will hold more moisture. The soil should be 
made fine and loose. For spring wheat one may 
plow the fall before, or early in the spring. 

Sowing the Seed. Winter wheat is sown early in 
the fall, so that it may grow strong before the cold 
weather comes. Spring wheat should also be sown 
early, because wheat will sprout and begin its 
growth while the weather is still cool. Six to eight 
pecks of wheat are sown to the acre, and the seed 
is planted about two inches deep. The lighter and 
looser the soil, the deeper should be the planting. 
In olden times wheat was scattered by hand and 



WHEAT 



129 



harrowed in, but now it is nearly all sown by tbe 
drill (Fig. 70). 

Cultivation. In most countries wheat receives no 
cultivation between the sowing and the harvesting. 
In many places it is harrowed or rolled after the 
seed has begun to sprout or after it has taken firm 



r' 








JLm 


t^f 


l^n 


mBm^^ 




H|pB 


B^^^P^--^ 




^H^^' ^^'^ ' * ^-"r 


♦■■•" 




HHHHEiL 


'- .-. ■-..•.-^v.-l 



Fig. 70. A wheat drill. 



root. This is done to kill weeds and to keep moisture 
in the ground, as we do for corn. It is a mistake 
to think that this does more harm than good. In 
Japan wheat is planted in wide rows and hoed. 
Vegetables are raised between the rows. A hundred 
years ago wheat was hoed with a mattock. Wheat 
may be pastured in the winter when the ground is 
frozen, but not late in the spring. 



130 



ELEMENTARY AGPICULTURE 




Fig. 71. The cradle was a great improvement over the reap hook. 



Wheat in Rotation. Wheat should never be grown 
on the same fields year after year with no change 
of ,crop. It was grown in England fo-r many years 
to test this. When it was grown on the same field 
every year for twelve years the average crop was a 
little more than twelve bushels to the acre. When 
it was grown every fourth year, with three other 
crops between, the yield for each acre was twenty- 
eight bushels, or more than twice as much. 

Enemies af Wheat. Wheat seems to have more 
enemies than any other crop that the farmer raises. 
He never knows when he sows his fields what he 
shall reap or whether he shall reap at all. Very hot 
or cold weather may ruin the crop. Drouths may 
come and the plants die of thirst; or it may rain too 
much and drown the wheat. Storms of hail or wind 



WHEAT 



131 



or floods may ruin it. Smut, or rust, or insects may 
devour it. The farmer has more risks to run in 
growing wheat than in almost any other farm crop, 
yet mankind is willing to pay extra for wheat bread. 
Harvest Home. In most regions wheat must be 
harvested very promptly, or much of the crop may 
be damaged or lost. Before good machinery was 
invented it was a very toilsome task to gather the 
wheat crop. So much hard work had been put into 
it and such a long time had gone by since the grain 
was sowed that the farmer was always anxious at 
harvest time to reap his crop and pay his expenses. 
At the close of the season the people held great 
rejoicings, called in England ^'harvest home.'' 
They formed a procession, with music, to bring 
home the last sheaves of grain. The workers and 




Fig. 



Cutting ivheat with a cradle. 



132 ELEMENTAEY AGRICULTURE 

pretty maidens danced along, merrily singing: 

'^ Harvest home, harvest home, 
We have plowed, we have sowed. 
We have reaped, we have mowed, 
We have brought home every load, 
Hip, hip, hip, harvest home." 

The Sickle. We have said that many years ago 
wheat was cut with a reap hook, or sickle, held in 
one hand (Fig. 69). A large part of the world's 
crop is still cut in that way among the peasants of 
Russia, China, and Japan. With a sickle a good 
worker can cut about an acre a day. 

The Scythe or Cradle. The Romans thought they 
could cut more if they had a longer blade and used 
both hands, so they invented the scythe. This 
allowed the grain to fall over when it was cut and 
some clever man placed wooden fingers above the 
scythe to catch the grain and help to lay it straight 
for binding. This was called the cradle. It is still 
in use in many places in our country for cutting 
small patches of oats and wheat (Figs. 71 and 72). 

Animal Power. But the cradle used only hand 
power, and men needed horse power to save botli 
time and money. The first machine to use animal 
power was a wheat-header used in France about the 
time of Christ. It was a two-wheeled cart, pushed 
by an ox yoked behind. On the front edge of the 
cart were sharp fingers, or teeth, like a big comb, to 
catch the heads of wheat and pull them off and rake 
them into the cart. This machine later disappeared. 



WHEAT 133 

The Header. Hundreds of years later men began 
to make machines with the power in front. This 
method with horse power meant a side-cut. The 
wheat-header is a machine that cuts off the heads 
and throws them into a wagon that is driven along- 
side. It saves binding and shocking. Wheat must 
be dry before it is cut in this way, for the grain is 
either stacked or threshed at once without time for 
curing. If it be damp, green, or weedy, it will not 
thresh well and is liable to spoil in the stack. The 
header is chiefly used in dry countries. The header 
of to-day cuts a strip twelve to twenty feet wide. 
In the state of Washington three headers and one 
threshing machine usually work together on the 
mammoth farms. In this way from fifty to seventy- 
five acres of wheat are harvested in one day. 

The Reaper. Another machine has been worked 
out to harvest the wheat where the header is not 
successful. A machine was developed that would 
cut and bunch the grain. This was called the reaper 
(Fig. 73). McCormick's machine was first used in 
the harvest of 1831. It was a rather crude affair, 
drawn by one horse, but it was a good beginning. 
It meant cheap bread for mankind, but the farmers 
at first refused to use the reaper. They laughed at 
it; they said it would not work on hillsides. But 
they sat on the fence and watched it. Then they 
shook their heads and w^ent back to their old cradles. 
McCormick talked and urged the people to try it, 
but it was ten years after the machine proved itself 



134 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



before a farmer was found who w^ould buy one. The 
next year two reapers were sold, then fifty, then a 
thousand. The grain was raked from the platform 
of the machine by a man walking behind. It had to 
be bound and shocked by hand. Not long afterwards 
larger and better machines were made. It took 




Fig. 73. The first reaper. 

much hard work to change the reaper into the 
modern binder (Fig. 74). 

The Self-binder. The machine in general use in 
our country to-day is the self-binder, which cuts, 
binds, and dumps the bundles in piles to be shocked 
by hand (Fig. 75). On some of the large grain 
farms there are as many as fifty self-binders, and 
these often cut six hundred acres of wheat in one 
day. To make a device that would bind the wheat 
was a hard task. Finally one was made that would 



WHEAT 



135 



do the work, but it bound the bundles with wire. 
Pieces of wire found their way into the throats of 
,cattle, and farmers would not buy the binder. Some 
cheap binder twine must be found. Mr. William 
Deering spent much time and a great deal of money 
to get a twine that would knot easily and firmly. 




Fig. 74. The modern tinder draivn ty a Iractioa engine. 

He finally found that Manila hemp would act just 
right, and this made the binder complete. Our 
binder twine is usually made of a mixture of Manila 
and sisal fiber. Millions and millions of pounds of 
binder twine are used every harvest. 

Combined Harvesters. The most complete ma- 
chine of all is the combined harvester, which is used 
chiefly on the bonanza farms on our Pacific coast, 
where there is nothing to fear from rainy weather. 
This machine cuts, binds, gathers, cleans, and bags 



136 



ELEMENTAKY AGEICULTUKE 



the grain without a single touch from human hands. 
On one side the wheat is cut, and on the other sacks 
of wheat are dropped in piles ready for the market. 
This machine is drawn by great teams of from 
twenty-four to forty horses and mules, and it har- 




FiG. 75. Shocks of golden grain. 



It 



vests from thirty to forty acres of grain a day. 
requires only four men to operate it. 

Steam Harvesters. There are large combined har- 
vesters run by steam. They harvest from seventy- 
five to one hundred twenty-five acres a day. They 
are used only on very large farms, from three thou- 
sand to twenty thousand acres each. In the days 
of the old Romans it took four days and a half of 



WHEAT 137 

work to raise and harvest each bushel of wheat. 
When the reaper was invented it took three hours 
of labor for each bushel, and to-day it takes only 
ten minutes. This is what machinery has done for 
the farmers. 

How Much We Eat. It is said that, on the aver- 
age, every person in the United States eats about 
five bushels of wheat in a year. Five bushels of 
wheat make a barrel of flour, and a barrel of flour 
turned over to the baker makes about two hundred 
fifty loaves of bread. 

Other Uses of Wheat. Most of the American 
wheat is made into bread, but there is also a great 
amount used for breakfast foods. Some wheat is 
fed to stock, especially to poultry. Wheat, bran, 
and middlings in great quantities are bought at the 
mills and fed to cattle. Macaroni is made from 
wheat, and so is starch, which is used for paste or 
sizing. The straw is used for feeding and bedding 
cattle and for making straw hats and bonnets. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) Why do not all people eat wheat bread? (2) 
How was wheat first harvested and threshed in America ? 

(3) Why can Europe raise Avheat as cheaply as we do? 

(4) Does corn grow as far north as wheat? (5) Give 
reason. (6) Why should fall wheat ground be plowed 
early in the summer? (7) Name some of the enemies 
of wheat. (8) Why is the modern wheat-header suited 
only to dry regions? 

For exercises, problems and experiments, refer to the 
Appendix. 



CHAPTER XVI 
OATS, BARLEY, AND RYE 

Climate and Soil for Oats. Oats thrive best in a 
cool, moist soil. The best corn regions are too hot 
for the largest yields. When oats are grown in the 
warm regions of the corn belt the seed should be 
sown very early in the spring so that the grain may 
develop in the cooler weather. The best oat states 
are too far north for a good corn yield. Oats will 
grow well on a poorer soil than corn. When oats 
are raised on land that is very rich they grow too 
mncli to straw and too little to grain and are likely 
to lodge and blow flat in a storm. 

Oats or Corn. In the corn belt oats are not so 
profitable as corn. The cost of growing the two crops 
is about the same but oats yield fewer bushels per 
acre and bring a lower price. When the price of 
oats is as low as thirty-five cents per bushel there 
is no profit in the crop. Still the wise farmer con- 
tinues to grow oats on good corn land because it 
is bad practice to raise corn on the same field year 
after year. In the rotation of crops oats fit in well. 

Preparing Seed. Seed oats should be plump and 

heavy and free from weed seeds and dirt. To re- 

• move this extra matter the oats are put through a 

fanning mill. In many places the crop can be 

increased one-fifth by carefully choosing the seed. 

138 



OATS, BARLEY, AND RYE 139 

The seed should be treated in order to prevent 
smut. Some careless farmers lose nearly half their 
crop on account of smut. There are two treatments 
to prevent smut. One is to soak the seed for ten 
minutes in a solution of one pint of formaldehyde 
and thirty-six gallons of water. Another is to soak 
the seed for ten minutes in hot water at a tem- 
perature of 133° Fahr. The last is called the hot 
water treatment. 

Testing Oats. It is well to test the seed oats to 
see if they will sprout well. If samples of the seed 
are put in a tester and placed in a room with a 
temperature of 70° to 80° the oats should sprout 
well in about three days. Out of a hundred seeds 
ninety-five should sprout. If a smaller number 
sprouts more seed should be sown per acre. By 
selecting seed carefully and cleaning and treating 
it every spring the crop will grow better every year. 

A Thirsty Crop. Oats need a great deal of mois- 
ture, more, we are told, than any other of our big- 
crops. For every pound of dry matter in the crop 
the soil needs about five hundred pounds of water. 
Where does all this moisture go? Some of it evap- 
orates from the ground and passes off into the air, 
but most of it goes into the oat plant carrying food 
with it. The plant gives off the moisture it does 
not use through its leaves. This passing of mois- 
ture through the leaves is called transpiration. 

Early Sowing. Fields intended for oats should 
have the soil stirred as early in the spring as teams 



140 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

can be used on the land. We know that a mulch 
prevents moisture from passing off into the air. It 
is hard to believe, but we are told that in a certain 
test it was found that a field with a hard crust on 
the soil lost thirty tons of moisture per acre every 
day for seven days by evaporation. 

The Seed Bed. Some farmers sow oats on corn 
land Avith only a discing but a much better crop 




^^^n 



11^ 



Fig. 76. A heaoy crop of oats. 

will grow if the ground is plowed. If the soil is 
light or sandy it is best to roll it after seeding, but 
it should not be rolled when wet. After rolling, 
drag it lightly to make a surface mulch. 

The proper depth to sow the seed depends upon 
the soil but in Illinois and Ohio the best crops are 
raised by covering the seed with one inch of soil. 
This is done by drilling the seed and following with 



OATS, BARLEY, AND RYE 141 

a harrow to make sure that all the seed is covered 
and to leave a mulch on the surface. (Fig, 76.) 

Oats in Rotation. Some farmers sow too much 
seed. From many tests it is found that about ten 
pecks of good seed to the acre gives the best crop. 
Oats fit in nicely in almost any rotation system. In 
wheat sections of the West the crops follow one 
another iii the order of corn, oats, and wheat, each 
one year, followed by clover and timothy, two years. 
Farmers in the corn belt have a three year rotation 
of corn, oats, and clover. 

Harvesting". The oat crop should be harvested 
when the grain has just passed from the *^milk 
stage" into the ''dough stage," or very soon after- 
ward. If there are many weeds the sheaves may 
be set in uncovered shocks so the sun and wind can 
dry them out. When oats are thoroughly dry and 
the weather is good they can be threshed from the 
field. This saves time and labor in the busy season 
of the year. But if oats are exposed to storms while 
in the shock their color changes slightly. This does 
not injure the feeding value but the farmer will not 
get so good a price for them in the market. 

The most convenient time to market the oat crop 
is at threshing time. This saves extra handling of 
the grain and the trouble of storing it. But if the 
price is low it is often better to house it. Oats, like 
all grains, will lose some weight in storage. To get 
the best price any grain must be sweet, free from 
weed seeds, and have a good color. 



142 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

Uses of Oats. Oats are used in the main as feed 
for horses for they are nearly a balanced ration in 
themselves. They are also fed in large quantities 
to sheep and cattle. The Scotch are very fond of 
oatmeal and it is being used more and more on our 
tables. For making rolled oats and oatmeal the 
plump and heavy grain is preferred, but the hulls 
must be thin. 

Barley. Barley is grown in many parts of the 
world for its grain and for pasture. The grain is used 
as feed for live stock and in making malt for beer. 
Years ago barley was used in Europe and Asia for 
bread until wheat gradually took its place. Barley 
thrives best on well cultivated land because its 
roots are shorter than wheat or oats and it needs 
a well-preserved soil. A rich clay loam is best 
suited to this crop for it will not grow well on land 
that is soggy. 

Rotation and Seed Bed. A good rotation for 
barley is corn, barley, clover, and timothy. Barley 
does well on land that has grown potatoes, beets 
or garden truck the year before. For this crop it 
is best to plow the land in the fall, disc it in the 
spring, and put it in good tilth as early as possible. 
If the ground is then full of lumps and clods a 
roller, or planker, should be used to crush the 
lumps, followed by a fine-tooth harrow to finish the 
preparation. 

Barley is drilled or sown with a broad-cast seeder 
about six to ten pecks per acre. It is usually sown 



OATS, BARLEY, AXD RYE I43 

in the spring following the sowing of wheat but 
before the oats are put in. After the seed is in, it 
is well to run a fine-tooth harrow over the ground. 

Barley is an excellent nurse crop to start alfalfa 
or clover because it does not grow very tall or leafy 
and does not shut out the air and sunlight. Barley 
does not require so much water as oats and so it 
leaves more moisture for the grass. 

Enemies of Barley. Some enemies of barley are 
rust, mildew, and smut. There seems to be no 
remedy for rust or mildew but the smut is checked 
by formaldehyde, one pint in twenty gallons of 
water. This solution is placed in a barrel and sacks 
of barley seed are soaked in it for ten minutes, then 
emptied and spread on a threshing floor to dry 
before sowing. 

Uses of Barley. In our country barley is used 
mainly for feed for domestic animals and for malt- 
ing. A small amount is eaten by man in the form 
of pearl barley. In some places in the West it is 
grown as hay and grain for horses. It makes good 
feed for poultiy and hogs and feeders are using it 
more and more for this purpose. When used for 
malt the malt-sprouts and brewers grain which are 
left are used to feed cows and to fatten cattle. 

Rye. Rye is not a very important crop in Amer- 
ica. It is used as food for both mankind and stock. 
Sometimes the hay is used but oftener it is plowed 
under to enrich the soil. Rye straw makes good 
bedding for horses. It grows taller than wheat, 



144 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



sometimes on very rich soil it 
reaches a height of seven feet. 
An Old Crop. Eye is a very 
old grain although it is younger 
than wheat or barley. It has al- 
ways been used in making bread 
by northern peoples but has been 
driven out of the warmer coun- 
tries by barley and wheat. In 
Russia it is still the principal 
grain. 

Rye will grow on land that is 
too light and thin for wheat and 
barley and it has been crowded 
out of regions with rich soil. It 
needs well drained fields, how- 
ever, and in severe weather 
needs to be protected by a snow 
covering. Rye is also a fine 
nurse crop to seed for grass. 
Clover will start better when 
sown with rye than with wheat. 
Rye as Pasture. Grazing cows 
on rye in the fall will force a 
large increase in milk. If the 
stock is kept off when the ground is wet and the 
rye is not grazed too closely the crop will not be 
injured. Rye will furnish green food earlier in the 
spring than any other forage crop, much earlier than 
grass. 




Fig. 77. Rye and tim- 
othy attacked by 
07^ got. 



OATS, BARLEY, AND RYE I45 

Rye Enemies. Rye suffers from two kinds of 
rusts. A remedy for this is to burn the stubble 
or rotate crops. Rye is sometimes also attacked 
by smut, in which case it is treated the same as 
oats. Another disease is ergot, which is a fungus 
growth that attacks the rye grains causing them 
to become very large. (Fig. 77.) Ergot is a 
poison, causing much trouble when eaten in bread 
by man or when fed to stock. The remedy lies in 
not using seed that has ergot in it and in not 
sowing rye for two or three years on the infested 
fields. 

Uses of Rye. A good yield of rye is a ton of 
straw per acre which produces from sixteen to 
twenty bushels of grain. The straw is worth in 
the East nearly as much as the grain. Rye flour 
makes a light bread. Rye grain is used to make 
alcoholic liquors but this use will grow smaller as 
people do away with drinks that contain alcohol. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) In what kind of soil do oats thrive best ? (2) Com- 
pare oat soil and climate with that of corn. (3) How 
should oat seed be prepared for sowing? (4) How shall 
one save moisture for the oat crop! (5) Discuss the 
barley crop. (6) How is barley used? (7) What can 
you say of rye as an American crop? (8) For what is 
it used? (9) To what extent are oats, barley, and rye 
grown in your locality? (10) How do you account for 
this? 



CHAPTER XVII. 
THE HAY CROP 

Timothy. One of the chief hay crops of America 
is timothy. It is grown chiefly in the northern part 
of our country east of the Eockies. Timothy is pop- 
ular with farmers, because the seed is cheap and 
because it will produce a good hay crop the first 
year after it is planted (Fig. 78). It is easy to kill 
it by plowing. Timothy fits well into a system of 
rotation with other crops. It needs a good soil and 
plenty of rainfall. It is not only an excellent hay 
crop, but it is used in nearly all lands intended for 
pastures. After a few years other pasture grasses 
take its place. 

The Clovers. Another hay crop is red clover. 
This plant, like so many others, came to us from 
Europe. It has been grown for many hundred 
years. Farmers have known for a long time that 
clover seemed to make the land richer, but they did 
not understand why this was so. We now know 
that .clovers and their kin, such as alfalfa, cowpeas, 
and soy beans, enrich the soil through the work of 
the bacteria on their roots. We have learned that 
the bacteria take nitrogen from the air and store it 
in little swellings on the roots of these plants. When 
the sod is plowed for other crops, the nitrogen helps 
to produce much better yields (Fig. 53). These 

146 



THE HAY CEOP 



147 



clover-like plants are called legumes. They are valu- 
able because of the hay and pasture they yield and 
because they help us to build up the land on wliicli 
they grow, with plant food. Most crops leave the 
land poorer, but legumes leave it richer, at least in 
nitrogen. 

Kind of Soil for Clover. Red clover requires a 
good soil. Many farms are too poor to grow it. The 




Fi(., ?>>. Timoihy hay. 

land should be well drained, because the roots w^ill 
reach down tive or six feet if the land is not swampy. 
Sometimes a sprinkling of lime to sweeten the soil 
will help a clover crop to thrive. This is true of 
some sections of eastern Ohio, southern Indiana, and 
Illinois. 

Ready to Cut. Clover is usually sown in the 
spring on the winter wheat crop. It lives about two 
years. Clover grows two crops a year. The second 



148 



ELEMENTAKY AGRICULTURE 



crop is often cut for seed. In order to obtain the 
best hay, clover should be harvested just after it has 




Fig. 79. A hand dump rake. 

come to full bloom. Hay cut later is not so good. 

Careful Handling. In harvesting the clover crop, 
it should reach the barn or stack with the least 
handling and exposure. If it is allowed to become 
too dry in handling, the leaves will crumble and 
fall off, and they are the best part of the hay. 

Curing Clover Hay. Clover hay should be well 
cured in the sun, or it will heat and spoil in the 
stack or mow. Some farmers cut it in the afternoon, 
and after the dew is off the next morning it is 
tedded, raked, and put in the cock before night 
(Figs. 79, 80, 81, and 82). 

Uses of Clover. Eed clover is used for hay and 
for pasture. It is often used as a green-manure crop 
to be plowed under if the ground is poor in humus. 
Even where it is cut for hav, the stubble and roots 



THE HAY CEOP 



149 



turned with tlie plow sliow gains in the crops that 
follow, because of the extra amount of nitrogen left 
Ijehind. Clover makes an ideal hay for cattle, and 
where it is raised, it should make up a half or more 
of the roughage of milch cows. Sheep and young 
stock make excellent growth on clover hay or the 
clover pasture. 

Getting a Stand. Where the soil has been worn 
out by many crops being taken off and no plant food 
or humus put back, red clover will not often grow. 
In order to bring such land up, a heavy coat of barn- 
yard manure will help to give clover a start. Another 
way to get a set of red clover on poor land is to 




Fig. 80. A self-dump hay rale. 

spread straw over the wheat or rye ground that 
has been seeded to clover. This is done in early 
spring, before the clover seed has begun to sprout. 



150 ELEMENTAEY AGEICULTUKE 

Alsike Clover. Still another way to get one's 
poor fields seeded to red clover is to first sow Alsike 
clover. This will grow on soils that are too wet or 
too dry or too poor for red clover. Alsike is hardier 
and less likely to be attacked by disease. 

Alfalfa. Another clover-like plant that is coming 
to be even more important than clover is alfalfa 





4 


"?i' •■■■I 




1 


wm^.'^-^ssii^;; ^'' ■'■'■ ■• 



Fig. 81. 3ay loader. 

(Fig. 83). It was brought to America in the early 
days by the Spaniards, but only in recent years has 
it become a widely grown crop in the United States. 
Like clover, it is a legume whose roots are homes 
for bacteria. Thus it both brings the farmer fine 
hay and pasture, and it enriches his fields at the 
same time. Alfalfa has for years been a leading 
crop in the West. It is now being introduced widely 
in the crreat Corn Belt. It is a fine feed for milch 



THE HAY CEOP 



151 



cows and for fattening liogs, lambs, and cattle. 
The Soil and Crops. Alfalfa has a long tap-root 
which reaches down deeper than any other farm 
crop, often being twelve feet long (Fig. 84). Thus, 
you see, alfalfa needs a well-drained soil. It thrives 
wonderfully in dry regions. It continues to grow 
throughout the warm season. In Canada they cut 




Fig. 82. Horse ijoicor is clituijor than human labor. 

three crops of it in one season, while in Arizona 
eight cuttings are often harvested. 

How to Start Alfalfa. Alfalfa is not a successful 
crop on poor land. If the land is not rich enough, a 
lieavy coat of manure may be necessary. In many 
places east of the Mississippi River lime is needed to 
give alfalfa a start. About twenty-live pounds of 
seed are sown to the acre in the East, but much less 
is used in the West. It is best to sow alfalfa in the 
late summer or early fall. It is sometimes seeded 



152 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



with grain in the spring. The field should be mellow 
and fine as a seed bed, for alfalfa is not a strong 
plant until it gets a good start. Weeds will injure 
it, so it is well to sow seed that is free from weed 
seeds. Alfalfa may be grown on the same field for 
a longer time without change than most crops, but 
it should be plowed in at intervals of from five to 
seven years and some other crop sown. 

Good for Horses. There is no one thing so good 
as alfalfa for the working horse. It builds up his 
worn-out muscles and keeps him strong and healthy. 
He needs much less grain when he can have alfalfa 
hay. It ought to be free from dust, but it does not 




Courtesy of Santa Fe R. R. 

Fig. 83. A field of alfalfa — six crops to the season. 

gather dust so easily as .clover. It is not safe to 
feed too much to horses. 

Alfalfa for Other Stock. Milch cows thrive on 
alfalfa, and nothing better is grown for calves, 



THE HAY CHOP 



153 



sheep, and hogs. Alfalfa and corn fed together 

make a finely balanced food for stock, because the 

food element that is lacking in 

corn is found in alfalfa; and 

what alfalfa lacks, corn will 

supply. Not only is alfalfa the 

best forage food for stock, but it 

will do more even than clover to 

build up the soil. Its roots go 

down very deep, and thus it 

gets food where no other farm 

crop can. 

The Cowpea. The cowpea is 
another legume and is a cousin 
to the clover and alfalfa. It has 
come to be an important hay 
crop in our Southern states, for 
it likes warm climates. It will 
grow on almost any kind of soil 
that is not too wet. Like clover, 
the cowpea will make good hay 
or green feed, and it enriches 
the soil. 

The cowpea is an annual plant 
and resembles the bean. Some 
varieties are bush-like while 
others are trailing. As it is difficult to cure without 
losing the leaves, it is sometimes grown with German 
millet to help save the leaves and to assist in speedy 




Courtesy Santa Fe R. R, 

Fig. 84. Alfalfa plant 
showing long tap- 
root. 



CHAPTER XVIIL 
SUGARS AND OTHER CROPS 

Where We Get Our Sweets. Each person in the 
United States eats, on an average, more than sev- 
enty pounds of sugar in a year. Sugar is made from 
the sugar cane, the sugar beet, and the sap of maple 
trees. 

Sugar Cane. Sugar cane may be grown in the 
Southern states wherever cotton is found. It very 
much resembles corn in appearance. Cultivated 
cane never produces seed, so the new crop must be 
grown from cuttings of the stalk. It takes a ninth 
part of the old crop to plant the field for a new one. 
The seed cane is usually stored on the land in the 
fall and covered with a layer of leaves and a thin 
layer of earth to protect it from the frost. In the 
spring it is uncovered or *' hooked up'' with long- 
hoes and cut into pieces two feet long. 

Planting. The land is plowed and thrown into 
ridges eight feet apart, and the seed stalks are laid 
end to end in double rows in a trench on top of 
the ridges. An extra piece of cane is put near each 
joint so the sprouts will be regular. Cane should 
send up a sprout at every joint. Covering is done 
with a hoe or a machine. A machine covers ten 
acres in a day. The first crop is known as plant 
,cane. The next year it will spring up from the same 

154 



SUGAES AND OTHER CROPS 155 

roots, or it may be planted again. A good crop 
will come from the stubble even the third year. The 
land is then plowed and sowed to cowpeas. The 
fourth year a new crop of cane may be raised on 
the land where the cowpeas have been plowed under. 
Cane sometimes grows fifteen feet high. 

Harvesting. Harvesting begins in October. The 
sugar forms most rapidly then, but the crop must 
be cut before the frosts injure it. Colored workmen 
using a long knife go through the fields cutting the 
stalks very close to the ground, for the lower ends 
yield the most sugar. The leaves and tops are 
trimmed off, and the stalks are laid in piles. At 
the factory the stalks are cut and shredded into 
small pieces, and the juice is crushed out between 
heavy rollers. This juice is put into large tanks 
with milk of lime to be made clear. Then it is made 
into syrup, and the molasses is separated from the 
sugar, which is then dried into large crystals and 
refined into our white sugar. 

Sugar Beet. It is impossible to tell by taste 
whether the refined sugar is made from cane or 
from sugar beets, but the raw beet sugar has a dis- 
agreeable odor and taste. Beet sugar was not dis- 
covered by accident. It w^as made after years of 
experimenting. More than two hundred years ago 
a German druggist first found sugar in beets, and 
sugar being at that time a dollar a pound, Napoleon 
offered a prize to any one who could make sugar 
from beets. The art was soon discovered, but it is 



156 ELEMENT AKY AGEICULTURB 

only within a short time that beet sugar has been 
made in the United States. The soil and climate of 
the greater part of our country will raise the sugar 
beet. The labor required to produce beets is much 




Courtesy of Santa Fe R. R. 
Fig. 85. A field of sugar heets. 

more than that required for an equal crop of corn, 
wheat, or potatoes; but the income is much greater. 
Preparation and Soil. The land for sugar beets 
must be a rich, deep soil. Plenty of moisture is 
needed while the plants are growing, and dry, warm 
weather when ripening. If sugar beets are to follow 
a grain crop, the land should be plowed lightly as 
soon as the grain is harvested. The ground is then 
dressed with a coat of manure, and later in the 
season it is plowed deep. The subsoiling plow that 
loosens the earth to a depth from fourteen to 
eighteen inches, enables beets to reach down into the 



SUGAKS AND OTHEE CEOPS 157 

soil where they will receive plenty of moisture at all 
seasons. Before planting, the ground is dragged 
or harrowed and rolled to pack it firmly. The beets 
are planted with machines. Horse-power machines 
plant four rows at a time. Since the sugar beet 
needs about four or five months' time to grow to 
the full size, it should be planted two or three weeks 
before corn. (Fig. 85). 

Harvesting. In October the farmer takes a few 
beets to the factory to be tested for the amount and 
quality of juice. As beets increase in weight rap- 
idly the last six weeks, it is well to delay harvesting 
as long as is safe to avoid danger from frost. The 
beets may be plowed loose eight or ten days before 
removing from the ground. They are then pulled 
by hand and the top cut off close to the root to 
remove the matter that prevents the separating of 
the sugar from the juice. The beets are then sent 
to the factory. Europe produces larger crops of 
sugar beets than any other part of the world. 

Rice. Eice furnishes the principal food of half 
the human race. It first ,came from the East Indies, 
but is now raised in many parts of the earth. It 
was probably brought to America when the Caro- 
linas were settled, and it is now the staple product 
of South Carolina. There are two kinds of rice, the 
upland rice and the lowland rice. Lowland rice was 
first grown in places that were overflowed by the 
tides, but irrigation is now used to raise this variety 
in most of the Southern states. Upland rice does 



158 



ELEMIJNTAKY AGRICULTURE 



not need to be flooded, but is cultivated mucb as 
oats or wheat. 

Growing Rice. The ground is prepared for rice 
and the seed is planted, harvested, and threshed 
very much the same as wheat. Where the rice crop 



liiiiiiiliiii^iiiHIiHi ^ 1 








■ ■*lii^*|?v^ k5 r x: 


'-ill 


'^.^^^■mz 






yfpjgc^-%/ ,■ ;.^ '^•^T:: 


Wf 


l:s :*~"n 



Court.'sy of thf Alabama T^i 

Fig. 86. A heavy crop of tobacco and drying ham. 

is flooded with water, the ground is allowed to dry 
out at harvest time. The upland rice is thought by 
some planters to be better than the lowland variety, 
but the yield is not so great. 

Rice Products and Enemies. From the thresher, 
the rice is sent to the mill in barrels. A little more 
than half of it comes out clean rice, a small part is 
polish, and about a third is bran and waste. The 



SUGARS AND OTHER CROPS 



159 



rice polish and bran are mixed and sold to feed pigs. 
The rice-stalk borer, the chinch bug, and the ^' black 
weevil'' are all enemies of the rice crop. 

Tobacco. The United States produces more to- 
bacco than any other country in the world and sends 




Courtesy of the Alabama Tobacco Company 
Fig. 87. Drying and curing tobacco in a ivell-ventilated 'barn. 

more than one-third of it to other lands. The vari- 
ety of tobacco raised depends upon the soil, climate, 
and the use it is to be put to. (Fig. 86.) 

Wet soils of ,clay produce large, heavy plants that 
cure to a dark brown or red. Light, sandy soils 
raise a thin leaf curing to a bright red, mahogany, 
or yellow color. The quality of tobacco is affected 
by the soil, kind of manure used, and the climate, 



150 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

more than almost any other plant. In the northern 
regions the seed is sown in a hotbed protected by 
cheesecloth. The young plants are tender and need 
watering with a weak manure water. They should 
be transplanted when five or six weeks old. They 
may be well cultivated until the plant begins to 
bud; then, if no seed is desired, the plants are topped 
so the strength may all go to the leaves. 

Fertilizer. Barnyard manure produces a rank 
growth of tobacco, but it is poor in quality. Potash 
is the most important plant food for tobacco. Nitro- 
gen is supplied in cotton-seed meal. 

Curing. When the leaves begin to turn yellow, 
the stalks are cut close to the ground. They should 
be wilted by cutting them when the sun shines the 
hottest. The plants are then hung up in the drying 
house without being crowded. together. (Fig. 87.) 
After drying, the leaves are removed and tied up 
in bundles called hands. The tobacco leaf loses more 
than three-fourths of its weight in curing. Tobacco 
is made into cigars, cigarettes, cheroots, and snuff. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) Before the discovery of sugar cane, how did people 
get their sweets? (2) From how many plants do we 
get sugar now? (3) What do you know about maple 
sugar? (4) In what way is the raising of sugar beets 
more trouble than corn? (5) Compare the raising of 
wheat and rice from planting to harvest. (6) Why 
should not tobacco plants touch each other in the dry house ? 

For exercises, problems, experiments, see Appendix. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
THE FIELD OR IRISH POTATO 

The Potato's Early Home. The early home of the 
potato was in America. White men had never seen 
it until after the discovery of the continent by 
Columbus. The Indians of South America, from 
Chili to Colombia, were raising potatoes for food. 
How long they had been doing this we do not know. 
The Spanish explorers carried the potato to Europe, 
where it was first grown in Spain and Italy. 

The Potato in Ireland. Some years later, we are 
told, Sir Walter Raleigh was cultivating it on his 
farm in Ireland. He called it "Battata.^' The 
potato came to be raised as the principal article of 
food in Ireland; and when, in 1846, there came a 
total failure of the potato crop, caused by the blight, 
a terrible famine and great suffering followed. It 
drove thousands of Ireland's best thinkers and 
workers to America. 

A Widely-grown Crop. Potatoes are a more im- 
portant crop in Europe than in America, and it is a 
staple product in many lands besides our own. Next 
to rice, it is probably the most widely-grown crop 
in the world. 

Not a Root, But a Tuber. The part of the potato 
that we eat is an underground stem which is called 
a tuber. It is not a root, like the sweet potato or 

161 



162 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



radisli, for there are no rootlets growing npon the 
white potato. All the roots are found extending 
out from the stems. 




1: Early Ohio. 




2. Early Rose. 





3. Triumph. 6. Peerless. 

Courtesy of Agricultural Experiment Station, Wisconsin 

Fig. 88. Standard varieties of potatoes. Early varieties, 1, 2, and 3. 
Late varieties, 4, 5, and 6. 

The Kinds of Seed. The potato can be raised both 
from the seeds which grow in the seed ball at the 



THE FIELD OE IRISH POTATO 163 

end of the stalk and from the tubers. The farmer 
always plants tubers, because they produce other 
tubers just like themselves. The potatoes grown 
from the seed do not always come true to the 
variety. 

The Potato Eye. Each eye of the potato will grow 
a new plant if a piece of potato is left on it large 
enough to feed the young plant until it can put out 
strong roots. When potatoes are allowed to sprout 
in the cellar they use up some of their plant food so 
they shrivel. These potatoes should not be used 
for planting. 

Cutting the Seed. Irish potatoes are usually cut 
into two or more pieces for planting. Some careful 
farmers cut two eyes to each piece; others claim it 
pays to use more seed and take a half potato for 
each hill. The seed is best cut a short time before 
it is put into the ground. One experiment station 
found an increase of fifty-four bushels per acre by 
placing the potatoes in a well-lighted room with a 
comfortable temperature for several weeks before 
planting. 

How to Choose Seed Potatoes. Our plants grow 
from the bud in the eye of the potato, and so we 
should know just what kind of a plant the seed 
potato grew on. We must see to it that we choose 
seed taken from vines that are good producers. 
Some vines have twice as many potatoes as others. 
Therefore, we select our seed potatoes, as we do 
corn, not from the bin, but from the potato field, as 



164 



ELEMENTARY AGRICITLTUItE 



they are dug. It matters not if the seed potato be 
large or small if it came from a hill bearing a large 




Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 



Fig. 89. Colorado potato beetle at work on the plant: a, beetle; h, 
egg masses; c, half-grown larvae; d, mature larvae. 

yield of fine potatoes. By careful selection, year 
after year, a farmer can greatly improve his variety 



THE FIELD OR IRlBH POTATO 165 

and produce larger crops on the same space of 
ground (Fig. 88). 

Climate and Soil. For the best crop one needs a 
deep, fertile soil with plenty of moisture, but not too 
wet: A cool .climate is most suitable. The seed-eyes 
are planted from two to five inches deep, and the 
most successful growers do not hill up the plants 
until late in the season. Moisture is held better if 
the ground is kept level. 

Cultivating the Crop. A few days after planting 
a harrow or weeder is run over the field to destroy 
all weeds as soon as they are started. This weeder 
is used once a week until the plants are six or eight 
inches high. Then the fields are cultivated between 
the rows about every ten days. 

Insect Enemies. One of the first enemies the plant 
meets after it appears through the surface is the 
flea beetle that gnaw^s small holes in the leaves. 
They may be checked by spraying with the Bor- 
deaux mixture or with Paris green. This remedy 
will also stop the ravages of the potato beetle, or 
Colorado bug (Fig. 89). Potatoes are commonly, 
sprayed about five times, beginning when the plants 
are about six inches high and repeating the opera- 
tion every ten days. 

The Potato Scab. Another enemy of the potato 
is the scab, which is a very tiny plant growing on 
the surface of the tuber. Scabby potatoes do not 
bring good prices. If seed potatoes are given a 
bath in a solution of formalin for about two hours 



166 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



before they are planted, the formalin will kill the 
scab growth without injuring the potatoes. One- 
half pint of formalin to fifteen gallons of water 
makes a proper solution, which will do for several 
bushels of potatoes, as it can be used over and over 
again. 

The Blight. Another disease for the potato farmer 
to guard against is the blight. This is a tiny plant 




Courtesy of Agricultural Experiment Station, Wisconsin 
Fig. 90. A field of potatoes yielding 350 husliels per acre. 

or fungus growth which attacks the plant above 
ground. The blight sometimes destroys a crop com- 
pletely. Spraying is the remedy for this enemy, 
also. 

Harvesting. Early varieties of the potato are dug 
as soon as they are big enough for market. Late 
potatoes are left in the ground until the vines are 



THE FIELD OR IRISH POTATO 167 

dead. They should be gathered when the ground 
is dry and placed in a dark, cool place. Potatoes 
stored in the cellar should always be covered to 
keep the light from burning them. In some regions 
farmers raise from three hundred to five hundred 
bushels per acre (Fig. 90). 

The Sweet Potato. This potato is not related to 
the white potato. It is not a tuber but an enlarged 
root. Instead of eyes it has many tiny rootlets on 
it. The sweet potato was found in the warm regions 
of America. It thrives in our Southern states, but 
is grown in truck patches in our Central states. A 
light, sandy loam yields the best selling sweet 
potato. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) How did white potatoes get the name '* Irish"? 

(2) What is the difference between a root and a tuber? 

(3) Why do potatoes that have sprouted in the cellar 
make poor seed? (4) Why not choose seed potatoes 
from the bin? (5) Many growers do not hill up the 
rows until late. Why? (6) Why cannot a farmer af- 
ford the necessary potato machinery unless he raises 
good-sized potato crops? (7) Make questions of your 
own for class use. 

For exercises, problems and experiments, refer to the 
Appendix. 



CHAPTER XX 
WEEDS 

Weeds Good Fighters. Weeds are plants that 
grow where they are not wanted. Their seeds, 
allowed to grow in the crops, take the lion's share 
of plant food, moisture, and light. Thus weeds rob 
and choke out the farmer's crop. 

Annuals. In order to fight weeds, the farmer 
must know how they grow and how they send forth 
their weed children. There are three classes of 
weeds. Many come up from seeds, blossom, ripen 
their seeds, and die in one year. Some of these 
annuals are wild mustard, ragweed and purslane. 

Biennial Weeds. These plants live two years. 
The first year they come up from the seed, grow, 
and store up food in their roots, but bear no seed. 
When winter comes all the plant above ground dies. 
The next year it sends up branches again, produces 
seed, and dies, root and all. Some of the trouble- 
some biennials are dandelion, barn grass, wild 
parsnip, bull thistle, and burdock. (Fig. 92.) 

Perennials. Plants of this class live from year 
to year. They grow sometimes from seeds but also 
from underground stems or from runners above 
ground. Among them are the Canada thistle (Fig. 
91), quack grass, cow thistle, yellow dock, milk- 
weed, morning glory, and wild onion. 

168 



WEEDS 



169 



Fighting the 
Weeds. If a weed 
is an annual, then 
the problem is to 
prevent the seed 
from ripening or 
spreading. The 
seeds of some of 
these weeds will 
grow after several 
years, so if the 
farmer allows them 
to become abun- 
dant in his fields 
some of the seeds 
will grow each 
year and each year 
he must fight them. 
It is a good plan to 
harrow well just 
before planting a 
crop. This kills 

the sprouting weeds and gives corn or other crops 
a chance to get ahead. Weeds are easiest to kill 
when they are just starting to grow. 

When weeds get a start in a pasture field a flock 
of sheep will soon kill them by eating off the leaves. 
Sheep Avill eat most all kinds of weeds. When 
weeds get a start in an alfalfa field they may be 
checked by the use of the spring-tooth harrow or 




Fig. 01, Canada thistle. 



170 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



p ~- "^ ^ '1 the disc. But 

wlienhayfielcls 
get too full of 
weeds the best 
way to fight 
them is to ro- 
tate the crop, 
and plant 
corn, potatoes, 
rape, cab- 
bages or beets. 
As these crops 
require care- 
ful cultivation 
one can kill 
the weeds and 
at the same 
time help 
along a pay- 
ing crop. 

Many weeds 
mature on 
corn or potato land or in stubble fields in the fall 
after the crop has been taken off. This may be 
prevented by following with a crop of winter oats, 
rye, or crimson clover. 

Biennials such as burdock, wild carrot, and bull 
thistle store up food in their roots the first year. 
These are much harder to kill, but may be destroyed 
by cutting the roots off below the crown. This is 




Fig. 92. Burdocl'. 



WEEDS 1^1 

done by hand with a grub hoe. Biennials may 
be killed by planting a crop that has to be hoed. 

Perennials, like the Canada thistle and morning 
glory, may be killed by pulling them up by the 
roots or by keeping all leaves cut off, so they can- 
not breathe. They may also be destroyed by plow- 
ing in the fall .so as to expose their roots, or by 
sowing a crop which will cover the ground very 
thickly and smother out the weeds. 

Weeds for Drugs. Many of the troublesome 
weeds on our farms might be sold for making crude 
drugs and medicines. Some drug companies in our 
country are beginning to plant burdock (Fig. 92), 
hoarhound, jimsonweed and foxglove to be used in 
making medicines and drugs. In Europe many 
farmers cure the weeds and sell them to dealers 
for this purpose. They dry thoroughly the leaves, 
roots, bark or seed. If this is not done they will 
mold. Many of the roots have to be washed and 
carefully dried. Boys on the farm might do this. 
The United States government has a pamphlet 
describing the different plants and the method of 
preparing them for market. Write also to the 
Agricultural Experiment Station of your state for 
bulletins on weeds. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) What are weeds? (2) Why are they injurious to 
crops? (3) What are annuals, biennials, and perennial 
weeds? (4) Give some good methods of fighting weeds, 
(5) Tell about weeds for drugs. 



CHAPTER XXL 
ORCHARDS 

Helping One Another. Fruit trees of some kind 
will thrive in any section of our country, so every 
farm should have its own fruit. Some farmers 
make fruit-raising their chief business, while others 
have only a small orchard for family use. If the 
raising of fruit is the principal object of the farmer, 
he should locate where many other farmers are do- 
ing the same thing, so that they may form companies 
to help one another in many ways, especially in 
obtaining good prices for their crops. 

Keep Near Market or Railroad. It is well not to 
go too far from the railroad to raise fruit. When 
peaches are to be handled, they should not be hauled 
more than three miles. Strawberries must also be 
marketed soon after they are picked and with as 
little cartage as possible. Apples are more firm and 
will endure more handling, but the expense of a long 
haul reduces the profits. 

Hill Lands for Orchards. It is usually better for 
orchards to be upon land higher than the rest of the 
farm. The cold air is heavier and settles into the 
valleys and lowlands, so the hill orchards are not 
so likely to be caught by late spring frosts. 

The Best Slope. The north and east slopes of 
hills are preferred for apple orchards, because they 

172 



OECHAKDS 173 

are slower in warming up in the spring. This keeps 
the blossoms from coming out too soon and being 
injured by late frosts. Trees set on southern slopes 
receive more sunshine, and their fruit is more highly 
colored. But southern slopes are usually drier than 
northern slopes, and thus the fruit does not grow so 
large. 

The Influence of Water. Land sloping toward a 
river or a large body of water is good fruit land, 
because the water keeps the air from too sudden 
changes. The fruit should be on the slope that re- 
ceives the wind after it has crossed the water. Air 
near water is kept from getting suddenly colder 
and there is less likelihood of frosts. (Fig. 93.) 

Kinds of Soil for Fruits. For apple, pear, and 
plum trees a farmer should choose a deep, moist, 
clay loam. A sandy loam is better for peaches and 
cherries. 

Preparation of Fruit Land. The soil should be 
prepared as carefully for a fruit orchard as for corn. 
It is plowed deep for planting the trees, so the roots 
may reach out far and wide for food. The surface 
should be harrowed to a dust mulch. If the field 
is wet and swampy, it must be drained. 

Planting Trees. The trees may be planted either 
in the spring or fall. If the soil is in good shape, 
fall planting is better, because the trees get a start 
before winter. To make tillage easy the rows should 
be straight. Apple trees are commonly planted forty 
feet apart each way, but sometimes they are planted 



174 



ELEMENTAKY AGRICULTUEE 



closer. Pears are set about twenty-five feet apart 
and peaches and plums each twenty feet. There 
should always be room enough between the trees so 

spraying may 
be easily done 
and the crop 
harvested con- 
veniently. 
Setting Trees. 
When a tree 
is taken from 
the ground 
the more roots 
that are saved 
the better. But 
with the best 
of care many 
of them are broken or bruised, and others must be 
cut. All the broken roots should be cut back from 
the injured end with a sharp knife, so the smooth 
wound will heal quickly. Since the tree has lost 
many of the rootlets that supply it with food, the 
branches must be cut back, too, else they will need 
more food and moisture than the roots can supply. 
People usually leave too much of the top on a tree 
that is transplanted. The trees should not be ex- 
posed to the sun and wind before planting, and the 
planter should not allow the roots to dry out. If the 
roots are covered with a coat of clay, it is well to dip 
them in water before setting them. 




Fig. 93. Irrigating an orchard. 



ORCHAKDS 



175 



Packing About the Roots. The holes dug for the 
trees should be a little larger than the roots seem 
to need, so that they ,can be placed straight. Since 
the roots feed the tree, it is very important to pack 
the soil well about them, so they can get plenty of 
liquid food from it. The upper roots should be 
raised until the soil is packed firmly under them. 
Roots should never be crowded together, but spread 
out naturally to grow 
as they will. In the 
bottom of the hole 
the soil must be 
packed very tight, 
but the top four 
inches should be loose 
for a dust mulch. A 
common mistake is to 
pack the soil tighth^ 
on top and leave it 
loose underneath. 
This brings the mois- 
ture to the surface 
and causes the young 
trees to die of thirst. 

Tilling the Orchard. ^ r.A a 

° Fig. 94. A crop betiveen roivs. 

The old idea that or- 
chards would take care of themselves after planting 
is a thing of the past. Now the successful fruit grow- 
ers till their orchards as regularly as they do their 
crops. Trees make nearly all their growth early in 




176 ELEMENTAKY AGKICULTURE 

the year, before the hot months of midsummer, so 
it is during the spring months that they need plenty 
of food and moisture. Then is the time to cultivate 
the orchards. More than nine-tenths of the fruit is 
water, and we know that tillage is very helpful in 
saving moisture. The drier the season, the more 
the harrow and cultivator are needed. After July, 
when the growing period is over, a crop may be 
sown on the orchard to be plowed under later as 
green manure (Fig. 94). 

Injury to Trees. In tilling orchards, care must be 
taken not to injure the trees. The grass and weeds 
that grow close to the trunk of the tree do very 
little harm, and they had better be let alone, rather 
than run the risk of injuring the tender bark of the 
young tree. 

Pruning. If young trees are well pruned when 
they are set out, they will need very little more 
trimming until they begin to bear. Shoots that 
cross each other and interfere with other branches 
should be removed. When branches are likely to 
become too crowded, the knife should be used. Many 
fruit growers change the shape of their trees to 
their fancy by pruning. They cut the tops back so 
the trees will spread out instead of growing tall, for 
it is difficult to spray a tall tree, and the fruit is 
harder to gather. 

Spraying Fruit Trees. All fruit trees have ene- 
mies which the farmer must fight. More than 
twenty-five years ago a man who was employed by 



OECHARDS 177 

the state of Illinois to study plants, discovered that 
Paris green would kill the potato beetle. He said 
that he believed the same poison would stop the 
cankerworm from injuring the apple crops. For a 
good many years farmers doubted and shook their 
heads; but here and there a man began to spray 
with Paris Green to protect the crops, and they 
found it worked well. Fewer apples were found 
wormy in orchards that had been sprayed. (Figs. 
38 and 39.) This was only the beginning of an in- 
telligent tight to protect crops and trees from in- 
sects. Many discoveries have been made since, and 
now the best farmers everywhere are spraying with 
different mixtures to save their trees and fruits, 
their gardens and other crops. In the West, where 
the finest of fruit is raised, state laws have been 
passed, commanding every orchardist to spray his 
trees whether he finds them troubled with insects 
or not. This is to make sure he will not grow mil- 
lions of insects to attack the orchards and crop of 
some neighboring fruit grower who is careful in 
spraying. 

Bordeaux Mixture. Besides the insects which in- 
jure our trees, there are tiny robber plants, or fungi, 
like mildew and the brownrot, that attack peaches 
and other stone fruits, sometimes even apples and 
pears. In France, where many grapes are raised to 
make wine, the grape farmers near Bordeaux found 
that their vines were being injured by mildew. So 
they set very earnestly to work to find a check for 



178 ELEMENT ABY AGEICULTUEE 

this enemy. After much experimenting, they dis- 
covered a poison spray now called the Bordeaux 
mixture. It is used all over the world to-day to 
kill the fungi that are injuring gardens and orchards. 

Spraying Machines. A farmer who has not more 
than five acres in his orchard can nse a spraying 
machine worked by hand. There are many kinds of 
good spraying outfits. (Fig. 95.) It is chiefly im- 
portant to be sure that the liquid is well stirred by 
some means, so that the poisons will not settle to 
the bottom of the barrel instead of reaching the 
tree. The best fruit growers spray their trees regu- 
larly. (Fig. 96.) Peaches and prunes are usually 
not sprayed unless they are attacked by the scale. 
In many places apples are sprayed three times — 
once just before the blossoms open, again just before 
the blossoms fall, and a third time about ten or 
twelve days later. The mixture used is three or 
four pounds of copper sulphate, five pounds of lime, 
and a half pound of Paris green in fifty gallons of 
water. 

Thinning Fruit. Some fruit growers are now 
urging the thinning of the fruit crop. A part of 
the fruit on heavily-loaded trees is taken oif before 
it is half grown, so that which is left may grow to 
a larger size. Though it costs a good deal to thin, 
the growers argue that it costs no more to pick the 
fruit when small than when it is full grown; and 
the fruit that is left to ripen is so much larger and 
brings so much better prices that it is well worth 



OECHAEDS 



179 



while. In Western regions tlie trees bear sucli heavy 
loads that the branches break unless some of the 
fruit is removed. When the crop is light there is 
no need of thinning. Apples usually grow in clus- 
ters from three to a half dozen in a bunch. If one 



mf 




\ ' ■ 
/ 


i 


"-^^P?-^^,„, ^:i>, 




-""^^ .N 


1^ 




,xVimgp>« . ^ ,\ 




^ ^^H^^^^^^^H 


fc^sfc- 


\ ^^^S^^m 


^^^4, 


^^M^M^imSwt^^^^^^^^ 


^■H^^ 


1^^^^^ '' "^^M mBBHB 


^HP 


^^^^■fe^^Mf^i' •'^^BWH 


Bt 1*1^1 *•• 


^9^; ""' .' .^jZ^^^^B^-^flHHH 


m 



Fig. 95, A good spraying outfit for the orchard. 

is growing fancy fruit he should remove all but 
the best apple of each cluster. Pears grow like 
apples and may be thinned in the same way. In 
thinning stone fruits, the work may be done by 
pulling the fruit off; but with apples and pears it 



180 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTUKE 

is safest to clip them with sharp-pointed shears, be- 
cause pulling is apt to break the branch. A fruit 
tree tliat has been properly pruned and the crop 
thinned, will not need props to keep it from break- 
ing down; and it is more likely to bear a good crop 
every year. 

Harvesting Fruit. A farmer who grows fruit for 
market must pick it carefully to prevent bruising. 
In order to make the fruit attractive to the buyer, 
the grower grades his apples, that is, he sorts out 
those of the same size and packs them together. 
Boxes are being used for packing, though many 
still prefer barrels for apples. Neat and careful 
packing helps to secure good prices for the fruit 
crop. 

Peaches. Though many peaches are raised in 
California, the greater part of them come from the 
Eastern states. A mildly temperate climate favors 
this fruit. They must be packed quickly and closely 
and sent by fast freight when shipped. Packers get 
two cents a basket, and an expert packer can fill a 
hundred baskets in a day. 

Apples. Of all the many fruits grown in our 
country, the apple is the most important. More 
than forty million barrels are used every year, or 
about a half barrel for every man, woman, and child 
in the United States. There are fewer difficulties 
to meet in raising apples than any other fruit. The 
tree is hardy and is not easily injured. There are 
many varieties of apples that keep well through 



ORCHARDS 



181 



the winter. All kinds are firm and can be handled 
and marketed with less care and trouble than other 
fruits. Apples may be put to many uses. They are 
eaten raw or they may be cooked in a variety of 
ways. Some are dried or made into jelly, and in 
this form they may be kept for a long time. 

Seedless Apples. Since we have varieties of seed- 
less oranges, men have been trying to develop an 





ir-<^^^w 


t 


M 


',Jb||K^2^ 




^ 


11^./ 







Fig. 96. The successful orchardist always sprays. 

apple without a core. When this kind takes the 
place of those we now use it will be a splendid thing 
for us all, because there are certain insects that 
live in the core of the apple and there is so much 
waste in removing it. Some day seedless apples will 
be a very common thing. 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE FARM GARDEN 

The Boy's Garden. The garden is a chance for 
the farmer boys and girls to have a little farm of 
their own. It is impossible for every child to have 
much space in the school garden (Fig. 97), but at 
home he should have a little plot of ground to raise 
his crops. Here he can plant what he likes and 
learn many important lessons about how to till the 
soil and to care for plants. Any boy likes to try 
experiments for himself and to feel that there is one 
spot where he is the ''boss.'' Whatever is raised 
in the .child's garden should be his produce to sell 
or give away as he pleases. 

A Good Story. The story is told of a certain 
farmer's boy who was anxious to leave the farm. 
He was tired of the salt meat and potatoes that 
were served at his father's table three tim*es a day. 
One summer he went to work for a neighbor. Here 
they had plenty of delicious sweet corn, tender 
young beets, sliced, ripe tomatoes, and meaty Lima 
beans, with a juicy melon from the spring house for 
dessert. The boy went home, started a garden, and 
decided to stay on the farm. (Fig. 98.) 

Gardens Everywhere. It is surprising how many 
garden crops can be grown in every part of the 
United States. In the cooler climates, garden truck 

182 



THE FARM GARDEN 



183 



grows rapidly because of plenty of moisture. In 
Dakota the best place for a garden is where some 
large snowdrift has melted late in the spring. In 
Texas vegetables grow the year around. Different 




[ 



Fig. 97. A school garden. 

varieties belong to different sections of the country, 
so seeds should be selected that have been tested 
and do well in the region where they are to be 
planted. 

Location and Soil. Since the garden belongs to 
the kitchen, it should be as near it as possible. 
Almost any soil can be graded, manured, and 
drained into a good garden, unless it is a very stiff 
clay that will not admit draining. The best garden 



Ig4 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

soil is a sandy loam that will dry out quickly after 
rains, so that it may be cultivated often. 

Fertilizing. Plowing in the spring must be done 
as soon as the ground will permit, but it is better 
to plow the garden in the fall so that freezing will 
crumble the ground into tine particles. Garden 
plants are grown close together in a small space, 
and we want them to grow quickly, so they need a 
great deal of plant food. A thick dressing of stable 
manure, from five to ten loads to an acre, should be 
put on before the second plowing. If this garden 
manure is hauled in the fall and made into a long, 
narrow heap mixed with sods and forest leaves, it 
will be well rotted and fine by spring; and it will 
easily mix through the soil, giving every inch of 
ground its portion. Leaves from the lawn should 
always be piled on the garden to decay. 

Well-rotted manure supplies all the nitrogen a 
garden requires, but to give vegetables a good flavor, 
potash is needed. Wood ashes will furnish this. 
After the manure is plowed under, the ashes are 
sifted on top, and then the surface is harrowed until 
all is fine as an ash heap. Dried hen manure, 
pounded fine and sifted, is often harrowed in with 
the ashes and is especially good for some garden 
crops. 

Preparation. The garden should be plowed from 
six to eight inches deep and harrowed four or five 
times. All stones must be removed. If these can 
be buried so as to be beneath the reach of the plow, 



THE FARM GARDEN 



185 




A hoy's garden — Beautiful as icell as profitable. 



they will help to drain certain wet spots in the gar- 
den. A hand roller and hand rake are used for pul- 
verizing and crushing lumps of earth left by the 
harrow. For root crops in clay, a subsoil plow that 
drags a second share after the first and breaks and 
loosens the bottom of the furrow to a great depth is 
often used. 

Garden Tools. Small hand tools, such as trowels, 
spuds, and dibbles, are used in transplanting. The 
hoe and steel garden rake are useful in finishing 
the top of the ground. The common hoe is too wide 
for narrow rows and delicate plants, so there are 



186 ELEMENTAEY AGKICULTURE 

many different sorts of blades made. Markers for 
keeping rows straight and a small hand roller, are 
great helps. The wheel hoe is the best cultivator. 
Every farmer should have blades of different sizes 
and a set of disks which can be used on the culti- 
vator. 

Mulch. We know that a covering of fine, dry 
earth, or a dust mulch, prevents moisture from es- 
caping from the ground. ''A finely raked garden 
bed is dry on top, but the footprints of the cat re- 
main moist for days, because the animal packed the 
soil wherever it stepped, and the water climbed up 
from one grain of earth to another until it reached 
the surface." Besides convenience in cultivating, 
it is wise to plant seeds in rows, instead of in beds 
which have been raised or hilled up, with high beds 
and low places between. When we leave the ground 
rough, or make large holes around our garden 
plants, we leave more soil exposed to the air, and 
this helps moisture to escape from the ground. In 
a very wet season, it is well to hill up crops like 
potatoes or corn, because we then wish to get rid 
of part of the moisture. 

Planting. We are usually told to make the earth 
firm and well packed over newly-planted seeds, be- 
cause this brings moisture to the seeds lying near 
the surface and so hastens the sprouting. As soon 
as the seeds have sprouted, the ground should be 
loosened to stop evaporation. Large seeds can be 
planted deep and the earth well packed over them, 



THE FARM GARDEN 187 

then the top is raked. To water a bed, wet it thor- 
oughly in the evening. When the morning sun 
begins to dry it out, loosen the top earth to stop 
the rise of moisture. Sprinkling the plants every 
few days is very harmful. Do not sow small, slow- 
sprouting seeds like celery and onions in land that 
bakes. A layer of chaff or a board may be laid on 
the row to hold moisture, but it must be gradually 
lifted as soon as the seeds get a start. 

Transplanting. In thickly- sown seed beds one 
must thin or move the plants to the garden as soon 
as they have their first true leaves. While seeds of 
lettuce, onions, radishes, peas, and many other 
things, can be sown in the ground in the early 
spring, we can gain from four to six weeks by sow- 
ing the seeds of others indoors and transplanting 
them. Many farmers buy their egg plants, tomatoes, 
cauliflower, and peppers from hothouse gardens; 
while others grow their own in window boxes, hot- 
beds, and cold frames. 

The Window Box. A window box fifteen inches 
square and six inches deep, or old tin pans nearly 
filled with soil, are put in a south or east window. 
Suitable soil or dirt has been obtained in the fall 
and stored in the cellar or some convenient place. 
This is mixed with a little coal ashes or fine sand 
to make it light and loamy. The seed is scattered 
and covered lightly. The soil is then watered with 
a fine sprinkler. Squashes and cucumbers may be 
planted on pieces of sod turned upside down. These 



188 ELEMENTAKY AGKICULTUEE 

sods can be set into the ground as soon as the soil 
can be worked. 

Hotbeds. Hotbeds are box-like frames sunk in 
the ground and covered with a sash filled in with 
glass or cloth. Some of the soil in the frame is 
taken out, and horse manure is put in its place. 
When packed solidly in the pit, the manure rots and 
produces heat. Over the manure is three or four 
inches of fine garden soil in which the seeds are 
planted. The manure keeps the soil above it warm. 
Hot air or hot water pipes are sometimes used under 
the hotbeds instead of manure. A well-drained spot, 
sheltered from the cold winds and sloping to the 
south, is best, because the sunshine is very helpful. 
It takes care and judgment to handle a hotbed prop- 
erly, because plants must be aired and watered at 
proper times. 

Cold Frames. The cold frame is like the hotbed, 
but has no manure in it and therefore no bottom 
heat. A combination hotbed and cold frame may 
be made of a large drygoods box partly filled with 
horse manure well trampled down and covered with 
clean straw. Small, shallow boxes are nearly filled 
with soil. After the seed has been planted in them, 
they are placed on the top of the manure and cov- 
ered with a pane of glass. Thus each box becomes 
a little hotbed. The glass is removed now and then 
for air. If the manure becomes too warm, the small 
boxes are raised on bricks. When the heat of the 
manure is gone, the hotbed becomes a cold frame. 



THE FARM GARDEN 189 

Preparing for Transplanting. When the ground 
out of doors gets ready for transplanting, the plants 
in the window boxes may gradually become used to 
the colder air by having the window raised a little 
at a time. The hotbed sash is left open on bright, 
sunny days until the plants are ready for living in 
the open air. 

Transplanting. In transplanting, one must handle 
plants gently and plant them in freshly-turned soil 
which is very fine. A hole is made with a dibble or 
trowel. Put a cupful of water in each hole, and 
press the earth firmly about the roots. Roots of 
plants are often broken off in transplanting. Ex- 
cept with tomatoes and eggplants, part of the leaves 
may be cut off so the roots will not have too much 
top to feed until they get a firm hold. If the soil 
is freshly turned and the transplanting is well done, 
it is not necessary to water plants. If late in the 
season the gardener may transplant on a rainy or 
cloudy day. A handful of grass or hay packed 
around plants that have just been set out is better 
than covering with tin cans or flower pots, for they 
need light and air to breathe. 

Rotating or Changing Crops. Every vegetable 
has its own insect enemies and diseases. If the 
same vegetables are raised year after year on the 
same soil, these insects and diseases will grow worse. 
The vegetable also uses up some of the particular 
plant foods that it needs. Some plants are surface 
feeders, the roots not growing deep. Beets, carrots, 



190 ELEMENTAKY AGKICULTUKE 

aud potatoes grow deeper and are able to feed where 
the others could not. If vine crops are followed 
with root crops, the latter will do well by feeding 
below where the others did. Radishes, early lettuce, 
spinach, or peas may be harvested early, and cab- 
bage, beets, or late sweet corn planted in their 
places. 

Planting Between Rows. Planting between rows 
sometimes works well. In late June, when potato 
vines are well started, and the rows are well cleaned, 
late sweet corn is often planted between. However, 
if the season is too dry, this may injure both crops. 
Sowing turnips broadcast in late sweet corn or 
among tomatoes and squash, is worth trying. 

Weeds. Weeds take moisture and plant food out 
of the soil, and they spoil the shape of many vege- 
tables by crowding in upon them as they grow. 
They should not be allowed to reach the second leaf. 
In hand weeding it is well to collect the weeds in 
a basket. They sometimes take root again when 
left on the mellow garden soils. When weeds get 
a start, it is a good plan to cut off the tops with a 
sickle before seed forms on them. Mulching be- 
tween the rows with a layer of straw prevents weeds 
from growing. 

Mulching. In a dry season, after plants have 
been cultivated a few times and are well above 
ground, hay or straw about four inches deep may 
be put between the rows. This saves the labor of 
weeding and keeps the soil moist and cool. It is 



I 



THE FARM GARDEN 191 

especially good for potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, 
beans, or vine plants, though in a wet season straw 
holds too much moisture. 

Peas. Peas are the first product of real food 
value of the early garden. They are both delicious 
in flavor and very nourishing. By sowing the seed 
about a week apart, and using different varieties, 
one may harvest peas all summer. But the late 
varieties are in danger of mildew. Peas grow best 
in a cool climate, in a light, moderately rich soil. 
The first plantings should be in as soon as the 
ground can be worked. The soil must be kept mel- 
low and free from weeds to raise good peas. They 
need not be staked with brush when the garden is 
worked with a horse cultivator. Where the brush 
is used they may be sowed in double rows. There 
are a great variety of peas, and those that have 
been tested in your region should be planted. Peas 
are injured by mildew and the pea weevil. The 
weevil may be killed in the seed by placing them, 
before planting, in a closed vessel containing carbon- 
bisulphide. 

Beans. String beans should be sown as soon as 
the ground is free from frost, and every two weeks 
afterward to keep a supply for the summer. A 
sandy soil and a southern slope are best for beans, 
because they are tender and easily frosted. They 
should be planted less than two inches deep, for 
the growing top of the little plant is liable to be 
torn off as it comes through the ground. When 



192 ELEMENTAEY AGEICULTUKE 

beans are to be used green, they must be picked 
frequently, for if the pods are allowed to ripen, the 
plants will stop producing. The bean weevil is a 
serious enemy and should be treated like the pea 
weevil. Lima and butter beans are best grown in 
Southern climates. Poles or stakes for these should 
be set at least four feet apart each way for their 
vines to climb on. The worst disease of string beans 
is the brownish or reddish pitted spots upon the 
pods; they spoil the appearance of the crop and cut 
down the yield. 

Beets. The root crops all need a loose, deep soil. 
Subsoiling or double plowing is useful in hard earth. 
Beets are grown in rows three and a half feet apart. 
They may be sown very early, for the young plants 
will endure a light frost. They should be thinned 
when the plants are just big enough for greens. For 
winter beets, seed may be sown in July or August 
in the central states. After the first heavy frost, 
the gardener should take up the roots, cut off the 
tops, and store the beets in a root cellar or pit. 
Leaf-blight is common with the beet in some places. 
This is prevented by spraying with the Bordeaux 
mixture. 

Turnips. Turnips should be planted on a rainy 
day and the seed covered lightly. About three- 
quarters of an ounce of seed to a row one hundred 
feet long. Young plants are thinned from five to 
seven inches in the row. If the plant grows too 
slowly, it is stringy and bitter. The fall and winter 



THE FARM GARDEN I93 

crops of turnips are sown in July, after the early 
garden crops are harvested. The white and yellow 
varieties are equally good, except that the white 
turnip keeps best through the winter. Except the 
maggot, the turnip has no insect enemies. 

Carrots. Carrots are good for soups, salads, 
stews, and other savory dishes. Carrot seed sprouts 
slowly, so it should not be sown deep. The earth 
must be kept loose. Eadish seed sown in the same 
row will break the earth crust, and show where to 
expect the row of the carrots to appear. If seed 
is sown several times, a week or two apart, there 
will always be some carrots on hand. The plant has 
no serious insect enemies. 

Parsnips and Salsify. Parsnips may be treated 
exactly like the carrot. Parsnips and salsify may 
be left in the ground all winter without protection, 
and they make delicious fresh vegetables as soon 
as the ground thaws. Salsify, or vegetable oyster, 
should be sown very early in the spring and the 
plants should not be .crowded. 

Radishes. Radishes need a mellow, quick soil. 
They do not thrive in clay. To be tender they must 
grow rapidly and should be eaten while small. 
Grubs burrow into the roots and make them wormy, 
if the same piece of ground is used every year. 

Horse-radish. Horse-radish is grown from small 
roots that are trimmed from large ones when the 
crop is stored in the fall. These sets are planted 
two or three inches deep, top side up, and from 



194 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

fifteen to eighteen inches apart in fairly wide rows. 

Swiss Chard. Swiss chard provides "greens'^ all 
through the season. Only one sowing need be made. 
The chard is cultivated the same as the beet and 
thinned to twelve inches. If, when the outer leaves 
are as large as your hand, they are stripped off, a 
new supply of tender ones will keep coming. 

Asparagus. Asparagus is a hardy plant. Its seed 
may be sown either early in the spring or late in 
the fall. When the roots are a year old, they should 
be transplanted in rows five feet apart, away from 
roots of trees or other plants. As much stable 
manure as can be plowed under, plowing ten to 
twelve inches deep, should be put on. Dig a trench 
nine or ten inches deep, and lay the roots about 
two feet apart in the bottom, covering them two 
inches deep with loose soil. The young roots that 
come up from the seed every summer should be 
weeded out. If the seed balls are ,cut off before they 
turn red, the plants can be kept from self-sowing. 
When the stalks begin coming up in the spring, the 
ground may be mulched with manure. This will 
save hoeing and also feed the roots. 

Sweet Corn. If good seed is planted, it will pro- 
duce a tender, sugary ear of sweet corn. Corn varie- 
ties mix so easily that only the most careful selection 
of kernels can improve a strain of corn. If the first 
lot is planted early in April, it will ripen the latter 
part of June in the latitude of New York. The corn 
should be planted thickly in drills with six or seven 



THE FAEM GARDEN 



195 



kernels in a hill. If some should fail to sprout, 
there will be plenty left. If all seeds grow, it is easy 
to thin them. Be sure that there are not lumps or 
stones over the corn. The plant cannot fight its 
way out like beans and pumpkins. After the corn 




Fig. 99. A iv ell- cultivated cdbhage lot, 

is up, a handful of wood ashes on each hill will 
"make it jump." Break the crust after rains, keep 
the weeds and suckers down, and cultivate between 
the rows. For a continuous crop, plant every ten 
or twelve days until the latter part of July. 

Cabbage. Cabbages need a moist, deep, well- 
drained soil. They thrive better in a spot where 



196 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

cabbage, turnips, or mustard have not been grown 
for three years. Select good seed, and sow in a hot- 
bed or window box. When the plants are in the 
fourth leaf, thin them to secure stocky plants, and 
transplant only the best roots. When transplanting, 
remove the upper part of the leaves, set the plants 
firmly, and stir the surface soil. To stop the heads 
from bursting as they form, one may loosen the 
roots by slightly lifting and twisting the plant. 
Whitish butterflies lay their eggs on cabbages. 
These hatch green worms that eat the leaves. Kill 
the worms and spray with Paris green and water, 
or sprinkle with salt, lime, wood ashes, or pepper. 
The cabbage maggot works at the stem or root and 
causes decay. A piece of tarred paper put around 
the stem on the ground drives away the moth that 
lays the eggs. (Fig. 99.) 

Lettuce. Lettuce is the most widely-grown salad 
vegetable. It is now ready for the table every month 
in the year. Winter and early spring crops are 
grown in cold frames. Seed for an early spring crop 
may be sowed in a cold frame in March. Sowings 
in the garden ,can be made from April to October. 
The cabbage varieties, or head lettuce, are blanched 
by tying the tops together. 

Cucumbers, Melons, and Squashes. The seeds of 
cucumbers, melons, and squashes should be planted 
in shallow hills, three or four in a hill. They are all 
tender to frost. If each hill is covered with a box 
frame, it can be raised on warm days and taken 



THE FARM GARDEN 197 

away when frost is past. The cucumber beetle and 
the ''stink bug'' are the chief enemies of these 
plants. Ashes, lime, and tobacco dust are used to 
drive them away. Muskmelons grow in warm, 
sandy land. Soil and location affect them greatly. 

Onions. Onions are grown from seed or sets in 
the open ground or in hotbeds. If sown outside, the 
seed should be put in as early as possible in shallow 
rows three feet apart and covered with a half -inch 
of fine, moist earth. They must be carefully weeded. 

Tomatoes. Tomatoes grew first in the South, so 
they need long seasons to ripen. Now, by selecting 
the right variety, the tomato can be grown in nearly 
every section of the United States. The plant may 
be started under glass or in window boxes about 
March first. They should be put in a cold frame 
where light and air are admitted on sunny days, 
until the ground in the garden is warm. Toma- 
to plants are set from two to four feet apart. 
They need moderate pruning and some simple means 
of holding the plant off the ground when the fruit 
is ripe. The varieties differ in color from pink and 
creamy and bright yellows to bright red. 

Grapes. In order that grapes may ripen, they 
need a warm soil and a sunny exposure. A trellis 
is used for support. Ten feet between the vines is 
best for most kinds. The Concord grape is raised 
in New York and Ohio; the small Delaware, in Dela- 
ware, Maryland, and New Jersey; but if we wish to 
see great clusters of white grapes, we must go to 



198 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

California. The largest grapevine of the world may 
there be seen. It covers half an acre. 

Eaisins are dried grapes. There is a raisin vine- 
yard in southern California which covers five thou- 
sand acres. Vines are pruned every year and the 
grapes gathered from the new shoots. Five-sixths 
of the grapes in California are made into wine or 
grape juice, or they are pressed as raisins. The 
dried currants that we use are really dried grapes. 
Grapevines are the prey of downy mildew, when it 
is hot and dry — also of black rot. Vines that have 
been weakened by bearing too heavy crops are often 
attacked. Prunings and fallen leaves and fruit 
should be destroyed, and the vines sprayed with the 
Bordeaux mixture. The first spraying should be 
done in the spring before the growth starts, and 
this should be followed every three weeks through 
the summer. To protect grapes for home use from 
black rot, frost, and birds, the clusters may be cov- 
ered with paper bags which are allowed to stay on 
until the fruit is ripe. The warmth induced by the 
bags makes the fruit ripen earlier and it is larger. 

Raspberries and Blackberries. The raspberries 
and blackberries do well in cool soil kept moist by 
mulching, after the ground has been thoroughly pre- 
pared. The shoots of both raspberries and black- 
berries that are sent up one season, bear fruit and 
die the next season. Pinch back the new shoots 
when they are two or three feet tall. This hastens 
the throwing out of side shoots upon which fruit 



THE FARM GARDEN 



199 



will be borne the following year. As soon as freez- 
ing weather is over in the spring, these side shoots 
should be cut back from nine to twelve inches. When 
the crop is gathered the old canes or shoots should 
be removed, and new ones cut away, leaving four 




Fig. 100. Nothing so fine as home-grown strawherries. 

to five good canes to each hill. For red rust, one 
must pull the plant out of the ground and burn it. 
Spraying has a good effect in fighting off the dis- 
eases of the plants. 

Strawberries. The strawberry thrives best on a 
strong sandy loam or a light ,clay loam. For most 
purposes the plants do well to grow in narrow, 



200 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

matted rows. They should be set out in the spring 
as early as the ground can be worked, in rows three 
and one-half feet apart, with the plants from one 
to two feet apart in the row. Planting may be done 
with a trowel or dibble. One must take care to 
spread the roots as much as possible and to press 
the soil firmly about them, holding the plant so the 
bud will be just above the surface. As fast as run- 
ners form, they should be removed, so that the 
strength of the plant may be used in producing 
fruit. (Fig. 100.) During the first season, straw- 
berries are worked often. Weeds must be kept 
down, and the surface soil should be loose and open. 
Just before the ground freezes, a thorough cultiva- 
tion should be given. After the ground is frozen, 
the plants may be mulched to the depth of two inches 
with straw. The second season should bring a good 
crop. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) What are the advantages of deep plowing? (2) 
What are some of the good fertilizers for the garden? 
(3) What garden tools will save time and improve the 
crops? (4) Why does the garden need a mulch? (5) 
Is mulch needed in a very wet season? (6) Why do 
you hill up potatoes in a wet season and not in a dry 
one? (7) Why should one pack the top of the ground 
over garden seeds that are planted with only a slight 
cover? (8) Is it better to water a garden often or sel- 
dom and thoroughly? (9) As soon as the surface is dry 
after watering or after a rain, why do we cultivate? 



CHAPTER XXIII 
COUNTRY ROADS 

The Importance of Good Roads. Few boys and 
girls realize liow important good roads are to the 
farmer. Well-made highways enable farmers to 
save much time in marketing produce, and time is 
money. Easy travel also saves the energy of the 
horses, which means economy of feed. When the 
roads are in order the farmer can use his team when 
the field work can not be done, and this reduces the 
idle time of the horses. If travel is easy, the farmer 
will go to market oftener, selling many odds and 
ends of farm produce that otherwise might be left 
to go to waste because of the time it would take to 
dispose of it to advantage. For these and other 
reasons a fine public road makes the farms along 
the way more valuable. (Fig. 101.) 

Sociability Encouraged. Aside from the money 
gain to the farmer, good roads encourage his family 
to move about more and to enjoy themselves socially. 
They gain a great deal in this contact with their 
neighbors. They go oftener to church, to other 
social events, to lectures, and to the city. 

Good Roads and Schools. The older children may 
go farther to school if the roads permit. Consoli- 
dated schools are thus made possible, and pupils 
may be transported at public expense some distance 

201 



202 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

to the larger centralized schools, which have so 
many advantages over the one-room rural school. 
More expert teachers may be had, a trained super- 
intendent can be employed, the children are better 
graded and the larger classes create more enthusi- 
asm in study and recitation. A teacher trained in 
the science of agriculture can be secured to take 
charge of that subject and of the school garden. 
Centralized schools, besides being better equipped 
in every way, may be managed more economically 
in one building which requires only one heating sys- 
tem and one janitor. And all this is possible only 
when the roads are kept in good condition. 

City People Interested. City people also demand 
good country roads because the better the roads, the 
more easily they obtain country produce and the 
cheaper it is. City people are using the country 
roads more every year for pleasure-driving and for 
automobiles. It is said that automobiles, because 
of the high rate of speed at which they go, do more 
to wear out the roads than all the heavy teaming 
of the farmers. It is unjust to expect the farmers 
to build and keep the roads in repair. Moreover, 
the cost of the produce that the farmer takes to 
market concerns the jieople in the city that consume 
it, as much as the man who has it to sell. 

Marketing Farm Produce. More than two hun- 
dred fifty million tons of freight are hauled from 
farms to the market or railway stations each year. 
Counting the labor of men and horses, the wear of 



COUNTRY ROADS 



203 




Typical country road after long rainy period. 




B. A concrete road. 
Fig. 101. A fine public road raises the value of farm land. 

vehicles and harness, it costs on an average about 
twenty-three cents to move each one of these mil- 
lions of tons one mile. Railroads haul a ton of 
freight for long distances for less than a cent a mile. 
The farmer's distance to market averages nine miles 
and so the cost of hauling a ton of farm produce to 
market averages two dollars and nine cents. Better 



204 ELEMENTAEY AGEICULTUEE 

roads would permit larger loads to be hauled in 
the same time and lighter loads in much less time. 
(Fig. 102.) 

The First Expert Road Builders. The Eomans 
were the first to solve the problem of how to build 
good highways. The central government at Rome 
built all the roads and kept them up. They were 
made of stone by trained experts, and in so solid 
a manner that, though the surface has required re- 
pair from time to time, the stone foundations "are 
as good to-day as when they were built two thou- 
sand years ago. They will be serviceable for cen- 
turies yet to come. 

Roads Abroad and at Home. European countries 
commonly have fine roads because they are con- 
structed by skilled engineers under government 
service. But most states in our country still have 
their roads in charge of county officers who are not 
skilled in road building and who serve only short 
terms, giving place to others less experienced than 
themselves. These county officers are perhaps good 
business men, but are not students of scientific road 
construction; consequently, although millions of dol- 
lars have been spent on American country roads, 
they are in the main a failure. (Fig. 103.) 

Plantation Mud Pikes. The earliest American 
roads were built in Virginia and led from the plan- 
tations to the landings on the rivers. These were 
simply mud roads built by the plantation owners. 
Hogsheads of tobacco were fitted with a pair of 



COUNTRY ROADS 



205 




Courtesy of the National Paving Brick Mfg. Ass'n, Cleveland, Ohio 

Fig. 102. A hricJc road needs hut little care or repair and brings 
the market nearer. 

shafts for a horse and were thus rolled along these 
roads to the river landings by horse power. Sup- 
plies for the plantations were hauled homeward in 
rude carts. 

Our Early Roads. Save the Cumberland road, 
our national Government has done very little road 
building. The task of constructing good highways 
through rough and hilly sections has been poorly 
done and at great expense. In the early days many 
long roads were made and paid for by private par- 
ties, who then made every one who wished to use 



206 



ELEMENTAEY AGEICULTUKE 




Pig. 103. Every township should own a steam road roller. 

them jDay a toll. There are now but few toll roads. 

Working Out the Road Tax. There are two ways 
of paying road taxes used in different parts of our 
land. One way is for the farmer to take his team 
and work on the road long enough to pay for the 
tax levied against him. This method is a failure, 
for the farmers seldom know how to build good 
roads and care very little how they work so long 
as they put in their time and get back to their 
crops. 

A Better Way. The other method is much more 
satisfactory. It is this: Each farmer pays his road 
tax in cash and the money is used to employ men 
who are practiced in road making. Sometimes a 
man is employed the year round to prevent the 



COUNTKY KOADS 



207 



roads from getting out of repair. ^^A stitch in time 
saves nine," and so it is with a shovelful of gravel. 
A man and a horse and cart kept busy at the gravel 
pit all through the year are worth many times more 
in securing good roads than all the ^'working out" 
of taxes. 

The State's Part. Many people are now .coming 
to see that the state ought to keep up at least the 
main roads as well as build them. This will insure 
the employment of road engineers, and it will be 
done in a more permanent manner. 

Drainage. It is useless to build a road without 
first providing a dry roadbed. Standing water and 
the grinding of wagon wheels will soon reduce any 













»s^as'.f^ 






Fig, 104. Grading and draining are essential to good roads. 



208 ELEMENTAKY AGKICULTURE 

road to a quagmire. The first step towards making 
permanent roads is to provide permanent drainage 
by ditching and tiling where it is necessary. (Fig. 
104.) 

Grading. Next in importance to drainage comes 
grading. The narrower the roadbed the easier it 
is to keep in order, because water will not so readily 
collect in it, but roads must be wide enough for 
teams to pass. The surface should be slightly 
rounded to shed water quickly, and the ruts must 
be filled as soon as they appear. Here is where 
the care-taker gets in his best work by preventing 
deep ruts from forming and keeping the roadbed 
dry. (Fig. 105.) 

Surfacing Clay Roads. After drainage and grad- 
ing comes the surfacing of the road. On a clay road 
a fairly hard and inexpensive surface may be made 
by thoroughly mixing gravel with the clay. This 
packs well and makes a hard surface, so if the mix- 
ture is of sufficient thickness the road will bear 
heavy traffic. 

Sand Roads. Sand roads may be greatly im- 
proved by surfacing with clay. Sand mixed with 
clay does not make so firm a roadbed as gravel and 
clay, but it makes a fairly good surface. 

Loam Roads. There are tens of thousands of 
miles of loam roads in the Central West and these 
roads are almost bottomless in wet weather. Loam 
takes water like a sponge, and on such roads it is 
not an uncommon sight to see an empty wagon 



COUNTRY EOADS 209 

mired and abandoned. Farmers are told not to work 
their fields when it is wet, because it will harden 
them and they will bake afterward. This is the very 
reason why loam roads should have the surface 
stirred when wet. Such working is called puddling. 
It brings the soil grains in closer contact, making 
a harder surface than before. 

The Split-log Drag. The tool most useful for pud- 
dling is the split-log drag. The halves of the log- 
are held on edge a few feet apart by rounds inserted 
like the rounds of a ladder. This drag used on 
muddy roads will smear or puddle the surface, 
making it tough and hard. By lengthening one 
chain and allowing the inner end of the drag to lag 
behind as it is drawn along, it fills up the ruts and 
works all loose material toward the middle of the 
road. This gives the surface a rounded shape for 
good drainage. 

Other Aids to Good Roads. This drag is very 
useful on dry roads also. By riding on the outer or 
ditch-end of the drag and driving once on either 
side of the road, the ruts are filled and the center 
made higher. There should be a law requiring all 
heavy hauling to be done with wide-tire wagons 
only. Wide tires pack and harden the road like a 
roller, whereas narrow tires cut and injure the road 
surface. 

Gravel and Shell Surfacing. Different kinds of 
materials are used in surfacing roads. When suit- 
able gravel can be found it will make an excellent 



210 ELEMENTAEY AGRICULTUKE 



Fig. 105. Grading a counirtj road. 

road. In communities near the coast, shells from 
the sea are often used to surface roads and with 
excellent results. 

Stone Roads. Probably the most popular mate- 
rial is broken stone. Stone-bedded roads are said 
to be macadamized, because a Scotch engineer 
named Macadam was the first to use and urge this 
kind of road. 

Thick Roman Roads. The old Eoman roads were 
surfaced with stone, which was often several feet 
thick and thus very expensive. Macadam believed 
that a smaller amount of stone could be made to 
serve just as well, and he urged that it would cost 
much less. The world has come to see the correct- 
ness of this plan, and now macadamized roads are 
found everywhere. 



COUNTRY EOADS 



211 



The Macadam Road. In order to build a mac- 
adam road, the roadbed is first given the slope de- 
sired, so the water will quickly flow to the side 
gutters. After this the bed is rolled hard with a 
heavy roller; then it is covered with a layer of 
coarse stone and rolled again. Then another layer 
of finer crushed rock is spread on top and rolled 
until it works in between the pieces of the coarser 
stone. A layer of still finer crushed stone or sand 
is next spread on and sprinkled with water, after 
which it is rolled until a smooth, hard surface is 
formed. Such roads are from six to twelve inches 




Courtesy of the National Paving Brick Mfg. Ass'n, Cleveland, Ohio 
Fig. 106. Laying a bricJc road. 

thick. They cost from three thousand to six thou- 
sand dollars per mile, but intelligent farmers realize 
that such tax money is well invested. 



212 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTUEE 

Brick Roads. It is said that the best road mate- 
rial to resist the wear of automobiles is brick. Brick 
pavements cost considerably more than the macad- 
amized road, but they are more satisfactory in many 
ways. They last longer, they require less repair, 
and they are not so dusty. In many places, as in 
Cleveland, Ohio, the brick pavements are being ex- 
tended from the city limits to the county line, where 
the adjoining county is planning to take it up and 
extend the road to other cities. (Figs. 101, 102, 106.) 

The Draft on Different Surfaces. How much a 
team can pull depends upon the firmness and 
smoothness of the roadbed and the grade. A load 
that three horses can just pull on level, hard asphalt, 
would require seven horses on smooth block pave- 
ment, fourteen horses on cobblestone, forty horses 
on an ordinary country earth road, and eighty on 
a sandy road. This shows the need of hard roads. 

QUESTIONS 

(1) In how many ways do good roads assist the 
farmer? (2) How do they encourage sociability? (3) 
What effect do roads have upon schools? (4) What 
advantages have centralized schools over the one-room 
country school? (5) Why are city people interested 
in good roads? (6) Should city people be required to 
pay taxes to build country roads? (7) How did the 
Eomans build such fine roads? (8) In what two ways 
are road taxes usually paid? (9) Which way is the bet- 
ter, and why? (10) What is an inexpensive way to 
surface a clay road? a sandy road? a loam road? 



CHAPTER XXIV 
PRESERVING FOODS 

Germs which Help and Hinder. The farmer's 
wife has her problems of canning fruits and pre- 
serving foods. It is a help to her to know the ene- 
mies she must fight and the harm they do. There 
are three living organisms that will cause animal 
or vegetable matter to decay. These are yeast, 
molds, and germs, or bacteria. 

The Yeast Plant. In order to grow, the yeast 
plant must have warmth, air, moisture, and sugar. 
This plant grows and divides into two plants, and 
these divide again and so on. Thus this tiny plant 
multiplies amazingly in a short time. It will grow 
in fruit juice and in fruit slightly sweetened, but it 
will not grow in thick sirups or preserves. It is 
easily killed by a high or low temperature. 

Making Bread. A small amount of yeast is put 
in the dough to make it ''rise" for bread. When 
sugar is added, the plants increase in great numbers 
in a few hours. They start the decay of the mix- 
ture and create a gas which forms bubbles through- 
out the mass, and these make the bread rise. When 
the bread is baked the yeast plant is killed by the 
heat, and the gas escapes. 

Mold. Mold is spread about by tiny spores or 
seeds floating in the air. When they lodge on a 

213 



214 ELEMENTAEY AGKICULTURE 

warm, moist surface, such as foods, they readily 
germinate and spread over the surface. Molds may 
be destroyed by heating to a high temperature for 
about twenty minutes. Canned and preserved fruits 
are more liable to be injured by yeast and mold 
than by bacteria. 

Canning Fruit. The important things to remem- 
ber in canning and preserving are to keep all cook- 
ing utensils clean and to kill all germs. This we 
call sterilizing. The kettles, jars, strainers, covers, 
rubbers, and other utensils used in canning, must 
be scalded to kill the germs, or bacteria. When 
all germs in the jars and fruit are killed, the cans 
are sealed while hot so as not to permit other germs 
from the air to enter. If live germs are left in 
canned fruit, a gas will escape which means that 
decay or decomposition has set in, and the food has 
begun to spoil. Foods and other organic matter 
will not decay if germs are kept out. 

Bacteria. Bacteria multiply rapidly in meat, 
milk, and legumes. They cannot grow without the 
presence of water. Dried fruits and meats will keep 
because there is no water in which the germs may 
grow. Neither can bacteria live in a strong solution 
of common salt. That is why we salt meat to pre- 
serve it. 

Smoking Meats. Meats are also preserved from 
germs by smoking. Smoking leaves a thin coat of 
creosote on the surface of the meat, which not only 
kills all germs but gives the meat a good flavor. 



PRESEEVING FOODS 215 

Certain kinds of wood smoke give the best flavor, 
though any wood may be used for the purpose. 

Cold Storage. Putting foods in cold storage does 
not kill the bacteria, but it keeps them from grow- 
ing and multiplying. As soon as the temperature 
rises, they begin to act and the food soon spoils. 

Preserving Fruits. Sugar is used somewhat in 
curing meats and very extensively in preserving 
fruits. When fruits are cooked for a long time the 
^'boiling down'' kills all germs and drives off the 
water so that other germs can not grow. 

Souring of Milk. It is also germs that cause milk 
to sour. The air contains many germs, the dust of 
the barn is full of them, and there are some on the 
milk pail and on the hands of the milker. So it is 
impossible to keep germs from milk. All milk cans 
should be scalded after using and, if possible, placed 
in the sunlight, which is a powerful enemy of germs. 

Bacteria in Butter and Cider. Germs or bacteria 
make butter rancid. This can be prevented by 
working out of the butter all the milk and water 
which bacteria need to thrive and by thoroughly 
mixing salt into it. It is bacteria that makes cider 
turn sour and ferment. The solid, slimy mass known 
as the ^'mother of vinegar'' is merely a vast colony 
of bacteria. Sweet cider makes the best vinegar 
because it contains more sugar for the bacteria to 
work upon. The process of making vinegar from 
new cider may be hastened by introducing some 
* * mother of vinegar. ' ' 



CHAPTER XXV 
FARM SANITATION 

Location of the Farmhouse. The farmhouse 
should, if possible, be located near the center of the 
farm so as to save the farmer's time in going to and 
from his fields. But the health of the family must 
have first consideration, and the home ought to be 
on high, well-drained ground away from marshes, 
swamps, and stagnant ponds. If the country is 
hilly, the south slope may be chosen for the house, 
because it is somewhat shielded from cold north 
winds and because the south slope affords more 
sunlight, which is the greatest friend of health and 
the greatest enemy of germs. 

Dry Surroundings. The yard should be graded 
in such a manner as to turn all surface water away 
from the house, not only for health's sake, but for 
cleanliness, as mud and dampness about the house 
make the task of cleaning, fall heavily on the house- 
wife. Farmers can easily learn to make cement 
walks to connect the house with the other farm 
buildings. Damp cellars cause mildew, and the 
decay of vegetables stored there sends a moldy, dis- 
agreeable odor over the whole house. The cellar 
should be light and ventilated by open windows, 
covered in summer by coarse netting to keep out 
flies and mosquitoes. The mosquito that carries the 

216 



FARM SANITATION 217 

malaria germ will breed in any damp corner of the 
cellar unless it is screened. 

Shade. Trees are very desirable about the home, 
but they should not be so dense as to shut out sun- 
light, nor should they be too close, because leaves 
will fall in the house gutters. 

Water Supply. One of the richest blessings of 
any farm is good, pure drinking water. It is of the 
greatest importance that wells are carefully covered 
over and that no surface water is allowed to run 
in over the unguarded edges. Surface water is al- 
ways more or less dangerous, because it may carry 
a small amount of sewage which contains the ty- 
phoid germ. After water has soaked through a few 
feet of earth it is said to be filtered and free from 
germs. Every well or cistern should be provided 
with a modern pump. The old-fashioned bucket is 
a danger to health, since careless people drink direct- 
ly from it, perhaps leaving disease germs in the 
vessel which endanger others. Cistern water is 
more liable to contain disease germs than that from 
wells, because the water comes from house gutters, 
where in dry weather many germs are carried by 
the wind. Although many of these are killed by sun- 
light, those that escape are carried into the cistern. 

Sewage a Source of Disease. Surface streams are 
most to be feared. If they have passed close to 
neighboring houses and their outbuildings, the 
water should never be considered drinkable without 
having first been boiled or filtered. Water may 



218 ELEMENTAKY AGKICULTURE 

look clear and pure and yet be dangerous to health. 
The thing that most often pollutes water supplies 
is sewage. Sewage is the term given to house refuse 
such as grease, soap, and human waste. It has in 
it millions of microbes or bacteria, some of which, 
if taken in drinking water, cause typhoid fever, 
others the cholera. Typhoid is one of the leading- 
causes of death in our country, and it is caused by 
drinking water or milk polluted by sewage. 

River Water. A river which has passed many 
towns in its course is not a safe water supply. Rivers 
will purify themselves if the water is allowed to run 
many miles without receiving a fresh supply of 
sewage, but when they have been the receiving place 
for the sewage of many cities the water becomes so 
laden with deadly bacteria that epidemics of typhoid 
have been known to break out in several towns 
along the stream at the same time. 

Mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are troublesome and 
dangerous pests which carry the germs of human 
disease. Malaria is spread by mosquitoes, and in 
no other way. The malaria microbes are taken into 
the system of the mosquito with the blood sucked 
from people troubled with disease. In the body of 
the mosquito, the malaria microbe undergoes a 
change that is necessary to its life, so if all mos- 
quitoes were destroyed, malaria microbes could not 
thrive and spread. When the mosquito attacks a 
well person, some of the microbes pass from it to 
the human system as the insect sucks the blood. 



I 



FARM SANITATION 219 

Yellow fever is also spread by a certain kind of 
mosquito which is common in our Southern states. 
By destroying the water breeding places, the yellow 
fever has been stamped out of such cities as New 
Orleans. Mosquitoes on the farm may be disposed 
of by draining pools of standing water so the pest 
cannot multiply. Large ponds may be covered with 
oil so the "wigglers" which hatch into mosquitoes 
can not get air at the surface of the water. Barrels 
or other vessels filled with water must be emptied 
or covered with oil. 

The House Fly. The eggs of flies are laid in wet, 
decaying refuse, such as manure, slop, dead animals, 
garbage, and human waste. The eggs hatch into 
maggots w^hich feed upon these materials and grow 
rapidly. Then they cover themselves w^ith a leather- 
like case and are quiet a few days, after which they 
come forth as full-grown flies. It requires only a 
few days for the egg to grow into an adult fly. A 
few flies live through the winter, and these start 
broods in the early spring. By the end of summer 
there are flies without number. 

Flies as Disease Carriers. Flies carry upon their 
feet .and mouths the germs of disease. They visit 
all sorts of filthy places to lay their eggs and after- 
wards approach our kitchens in search of food, and 
wherever they crawl they scatter disease germs. 
The house fly has been called the typhoid fly. 

Fighting Flies. There are two ways to protect 
the family from flies. One is to clean up all garbage 



220 



ELEMENTARY AGEICULTURE 



piles and filth where flies breed and to sprinkle 
diluted carbolic acid about such places frequently. 
Carbolic acid drives away the flies and kills many 
typhoid and other disease germs. The other remedy 
is to screen the house thoroughly, especially the 




Fig. 1U7. A sanitary dairy ham. 

kitchen and living rooms. No house is complete 
until it is fitted with screens. 

Milk a Germ Carrier. It is known that milk 
spreads diphtheria and tuberculosis as well as 
typhoid fever. The typhoid germs are in the water 
in which the ,cans are washed. The ceiling of the 
cow stable should be dust-proof and the floor ce- 
ment, so it may be washed often. Some apparently 



FARM SANITATION 221 

healthy cows have tuberculosis and in many places 
where milk is sold to cities the cows are examined 
and tested for this disease. 

Ventilating the Barn. The average barn is not 
very tightly built and plenty of air enters for the 
stock through the cracks, but the newer barns are 
now built tight and warm, and in this case some 
means should be planned to ventilate, because bad 
air is the cause of the spread of tuberculosis among 
cows as well as among the human family. Window 
ventilation is far better than none, but the cold draft 
should not strike the cows and other stock. (Fig. 
107.) 

Cold Air Heavier than Warm. Every boy and 
girl knows that cold air is heavier than warm air 
and so the warmest air in the room is always near 
the ceiling. One reason smoke goes up the chimney 
is because it is carried up by warm, light air, while 
heavy, cold air is crowding in to take the place left 
by the warm air. 

Best Barn Ventilation. The best way to ventilate 
any building, home, school, or barn that must be 
kept warm is to take out the colder air near the 
floor instead of the warm air near the ceiling. For 
this purpose there should be an air shaft leading 
from near the floor to the roof to carry out the air. 

Home Ventilation. The best way to heat and 
ventilate a home is probably the hot-water system, 
placing the radiators in each room near the wall. 
Behind each radiator is an opening through the 



222 



ELEMENTAEY AGEICULTURE 



wall. The outside fresh air comes in through the 
radiator that warms it. Beside the chimney are 
air vents leading from points near the floor of the 
room to the attic. The cold air of the room enters 
these air vents near the floor and passes to the attic, 
where openings lead to the outside. The heat of 
the chimney keeps the air vents warm, causing them 




'"ijurte.^y of the Smith Heating Co. 

Fig. 108. A well-ventilated country school. 

to draw the colder air out of the room like another 
chimney. The hot pipes that extend to radiators 
on the second floor might be arranged to extend up 
the other air vents, heating the air and sucking 
the cold air out of other rooms. Each bedroom 
should be well ventilated either by an air vent along 
the chimney or by an open window. Bedrooms 
ought never to be less than ten by twelve feet, with 
a ceiling not lower than eight feet. 

School Ventilation. These same principles of 
ventilation apply to schoolhouses. Where the 



FARM SANITATION 223 

schools are consolidated in one large central build- 
ing tlie fan system to drive the air in and out is 
the best in use. There are now excellent ways of 
heating and ventilating one-room schools without 
opening windows, and no country schoolhouse can 
afford to be without such a moderate priced bless- 
ing. (Fig. 108.) The illustration shows a heating 
and ventilating system where the fresh outside air 
passes in near the furnace and is warmed. It then 
circulates as the arrows indicate. The cold, foul 
air near the floor is drawn out by the opening into 
a separate chimney flue at the floor level. The best 
way to prevent and to fight tuberculosis, either 
among cows or human beings, is with plenty of 
good, fresh fair. Keeping the house and the barn 
supplied with plenty of fresh air and sunlight is the 
greatest safeguard to health. 

School Lighting. The only perfect way of light- 
ing a schoolroom is from the top, which is nature's 
plan. (Fig. 109.) The children's eyes should be 
protected from the strong light from side windows, 
because the eye, like a camera, can adjust itself to 
but one intensity of light at a time. The strong 
glaring windows cause the pupil of the eye to close 
so much as to make all objects in the room look dim 
and the eyes are strained, trying to see clearly. 
The only way to secure a well-distributed, even 
light is from skylights, and country schools, being 
of one story, can easily be provided with them, and 
the protection to the children's eyes justifies the cost. 



CHAPTER XXVI 
THE FAEMER'S COLLEGE 

Educating the Farmer. When the farmers have 
good crops, the whole country is happy, and business 
is good. A crop failure not only harms the farmer, 
but causes the wheels of industry and business to 
stop, and the result is hard times. Thus, you see, 
the entire country is interested in good crops. 

The United States Government has become greatly 
concerned about the farmer's success and has estab- 
lished a college for farmers called the Department 
of Agriculture. This department is located at 
Washington, but it has branches in every state in 
the L^nion. It is not like the ordinary college, for 
farmers cannot leave their crops and stock to attend 
it. The Department of Agriculture has hundreds of 
learned men studying and experimenting all the 
time. They are finding out all about soils and farm 
crops, about animals, their care and diseases, about 
plants and their enemies. Everything that will help 
the farmer to raise splendid crops, this college is 
learning about. And they will send out to any 
farmer Avho asks for it, all the wonderful knowledge 
that has been discovered. 

Learning the Best Way. Now, instead of guess- 
ing at what is best to do, or depending upon the 
advice of a neighboring farmer, who may be even 

225 



226 ELEMENTAEY AGRICULTUKE 

more ignorant than ourselves, we ,can just drop a 
one-cent post ,card in the mail box or post office 
addressed like this: 

The Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, 

D. C. 
We may ask about any crop, or about soils and till- 
age, or about farm stock and how to raise and feed 
them, or how to destroy insects. In a few days 
comes a little booklet to us with all the latest knowl- 
edge about the things we are interested in. This 
college, or department, will even advise about farm 
buildings, farm machinery, poultry, and many kinds 
of wild game. If you are planning to build a hen- 
house, you had better learn the best way, as it costs 
nothing to find out. For some of these thousands 
of booklets, prepared for the help of the farmer, a 
small price of ten or fifteen cents is asked, but the 
most of them are free. What a wonderful thing it 
is to have a real education in farming! The Gov- 
ernment is spending millions of dollars each year 
to help the farmer, and thousands of intelligent 
farmers and their boys are becoming students of 
agriculture. 

Not only will this department help the farmer 
and his sons with their problems, but the farmer's 
wife and daughters .can get advice about milk, but- 
ter, and cheese, about canning fruit and how to 
preserve food, and about many other problems of 
the farm home. 



THE FAEMER'S COLLEGE 



227 



Experiment Stations. Besides the Department at 
Washington, every state has experiment stations 
where learned men are making tests of crops, ani- 
mals, and Avhatever the farmers of that particular 
state may wish to know. These experiment stations 
are also kept np with tax money, and the farmers 




Fig. 110. College of Agriculture, University of Wisconsin. 

have a right to the knowledge and discoveries made 
here. Booklets from the experiment stations are 
mailed free to any one engaged in farming. Should 
a disease of animals or plants suddenly break out 
in some community, a man will be sent upon request 
from the experiment station to advise and show the 
farmers how to fight the trouble. The farmers of 
Dakota have gained ten millions of dollars through 
the secrets learned at the experiment station about 
grain. We have learned that the Babcock test has 



228 ELEMENTAEY AGEICULTURE 

changed the dairy industry of the whole world. Dr. 
Babcock is one of the ,clever men who has spent his 
life helping to solve the farmer ^s problems in the 
Wisconsin Experiment Station. 

Colleges of Agriculture. If a boy is plucky he 
will gain much useful knowledge about farming 
from these booklets. But every state also has its 
school of agriculture, a real college where farmers' 
sons gather by the hundreds to study the problems 
of the farm (Fig. 110). Every young man who is 
looking forward to the farmer's life should resolve 
to take a course in such a college, even if it is only 
for a few months in winter. The farmer of the 
future will have to know more than those of the past 
in order to be successful. So one had best prepare 
well by taking a full course. If, however, a boy 
cannot be spared from the farm so long, or if he 
has not the funds to pay his way through a long 
course, there are shorter courses for him. Many 
wise farmers, who need their sons through the crop 
season, are sending them to some College of Agricul- 
ture year after year for the winter terms, when they 
can be spared from the farm. A few winters spent 
in this way will open the boj^'s eyes to many inter- 
esting and important secrets of success. He will 
then no longer wish to leave the farm. The farm 
offers a delightful place on which to live, but in 
order to be successful one must have good training 
and good judgment. These, with industry, will 
bring happiness and prosperity. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

BOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUBS 

More Food Needed. The population of our conn- 
try is increasing very rapidly, much faster than the 
production of food; and so the ,cost of everything 
we eat is a great deal higher than formerly. Every 
citizen is, therefore, interested in increasing the 
farmer's crops by methods of scientific agriculture. 
Not only are the farmers anxious to improve crops, 
but business men, journalists, and statesmen are all 
helping along the movement. People are realizing 
more and more how closely their living, their pros- 
perity, and their business success are linked with the 
work of the farmer who produces the nation's food. 

The Whole Country Interested. Not only are 
farm journals teeming with suggestions and advice, 
but magazines and newspapers of all descriptions 
are spreading the great truths of scientific tillage 
and stock-raising. Business men's clubs are offer- 
ing prizes to boys for the best acre crops, and the 
champion corn raisers are getting large money 
prizes and often splendid trips to the state or 
nation's capital with all expenses paid. President 
Roosevelt during his term of office appointed a com- 
mission consisting of eminent men to study country 
life and make such recommendations as seemed wise 
to them. 

229 



230 ELEMENTAKY AGEICULTURE 

Agriculture in Schools. The principles of agri- 
culture are rapidly being introduced into the rural 
schools as part of the course of study. Thirteen 
states now require the teaching of agriculture in 
the common schools. It is also encouraged and 
taught in thirty-one other states, which have not 
as yet required it by law. This makes in all forty- 
four states where agriculture is being taught in some 
measure. Many city schools are also attempting 
some work in connection with school gardens. 
(Fig. 97.) 

Field Agents. The Department of Agriculture 
has been studying and investigating for a long time, 
and they have been sending out millions of copies 
of pamphlets to any one asking for them. But 
since so many farmers are not alive to their need 
for instruction and are not reading these pamphlets, 
the Department is now sending out expert men as 
field agents (Fig. Ill) to meet the farmers and to 
encourage them to form for their own improvement 
such organizations as cow-testing associations and 
the like. For boys there are Cotton Clubs, Corn 
Clubs, and numerous others; while for girls there* 
are such organizations as the Girls' Garden Clubs 
and Tomato Canning Clubs. (Fig. 112.) 

Club Movement Spreads. The club movement 
among country boys and girls has grown in a re- 
markable way. In every section of the country 
there are club members doing the regular club 
work of raising a crop under the special instructions 



BOYS' AND GIELS' CLUBS 



231 



furnished by the Department of Agriculture. Aside 
from the clubs already mentioned are Good Roads 
Clubs, Poultry Clubs, Vegetable Garden Clubs, Sugar 
Beet Clubs, and Father and Son Clubs. 

Boys' Corn Clubs. The Corn Club idea started 
in the South in this way. The boys of a county 




Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 

Fig. 111. A specialist in charge of National Club work, conducting a 
school of instruction in home and school canning methods. 

were invited to join such a club and were assisted 
in forming the organization. During the winter they 
held meetings and studied the pamphlets received 
from the Department at Washington. These gave 
them information about selecting seed and fertilizer, 
and how to plant, cultivate, and harvest the crop. 



232 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 




Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 

Fig. 112. Tlay and contest a part of the game in National club worlc. 

(Grading: Slill, 30%; speed, 30%; weight of 

peeling, 40%; Total, 100%.) 

In tlie early spring the boys selected seed and tested 
its power to grow, or germinate, by taking a few 
kernels from each ear of seed corn. 

The Crop. Then each boy was allowed an acre 
of ground and expected to keep a careful account 
of the money spent on his crop in labor and fer- 
tilizer. Even when he did the work himself he 
charged ten cents an hour against his crop and five 
cents an hour for each horse used. The rental value 
of the land was placed at $5 per acre and that, too, 
was charged against his crop, while for each load 
of manure another $2 was charged. 

Net Profit. When the crop was sold, the lad 
deducted from the amount of money he received for 



BOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUBS 



233 



I 



it, all the cost of raising, which included labor, fer- 
tilizer, and other expenses. What was left after 
this subtraction was clear gain or net profit, as 
business men call it. 

Growth of Corn Clubs. Corn Clubs have been 
organized in large numbers in the Southern and 
Central states, and they are doing a splendid work 
for every county in which they are found. The boys 
are opening the eyes of their parents and neighbors 
to the wonderful in- 
crease in the crop 
when some attention 
is given to scientific 
culture. (Fig. 113.) 

The 1912 Crop. 
During one season 
the average yield 
of all the Corn 
Club members who 
reported to the Of- 
fice of Farm Man- 
agement was 74.5 
bushels per acre. 
Fifteen club mem- 
bers made a yield 
of 140 or more 
bushels per acre. 
Sixty-one boys made over 120 bushels an acre. The 
average net profit an acre of all club members 
reporting was $25.55. 




Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 

Fig. 113. A Wisconsin cJuh winner 
and his pj-ize iushel of seed corn. 



234 ELEMENTAEY AGRICULTUKE 

Illinois. The average yield of Corn Club mem- 
bers from Illinois was 79 bushels per acre, but 
eighty-six members made over 100 bushels an acre. 
There were more than 5,000 members in that state 
alone and $2,000 was given out as premiums to the 
high score boys. 

Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. Indiana, with 3,000 
members, grew an average of 78 bushels per acre. 
It is said that the work of the club members in 
Kentucky contributed $10,000,000 to the wealth of 
that state. One boy in West Virginia grew 140 
bushels, while four others raised 120 bushels or 
more. Ohio members who reported averaged 94 V^ 
bushels per acre. 

Father and Son Clubs. In Kentucky there are 
many Father and Son Clubs in which the father 
raises ten acres of corn alongside the son's one acre, 
and both follow the same careful instructions in 
selecting seed, planting, and cultivating. The cham- 
pion father and son of that state one year were 
Herman Gallrein and his son, Edward G. Gallrein, 
aged fourteen» The son raised 146 bushels and 36 
pounds of white ,corn on his acre and his clear profit 
was $67.32. The father grew ten acres of the same 
kind of corn on land adjoining the boy's one acre; 
and his average per acre was 139 bushels and 45 
pounds, which brought a net profit of $69.91 per 
acre. Both cultivated their crops eight times, the 
first being a rather deep cultivation, while the seven 
others were shallow. 



BOYS' AND GIELS' CLUBS 



235 



Potato Clubs. Cumberland County in East Ten- 
nessee has a sclioolboys' Potato Club, that has 
taught the farmers of that section an important les- 
son. It had been supposed that potatoes were not 
a profitable crop in that state. It was claimed that 
the cost of raising an acre of potatoes there, includ- 




Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 

Fig. 114. Idaho hoys and girls receiving -field instructions on 
the diseases of the potato. 



ing labor, fertilizer, and the rent of the land, was 
about $75 per acre, while the crops raised hitherto 
at the rate of fifty cents a bushel brought a return 
of only $40 an acre. But the Boys' Potato Club told 
a different story. One lad raised on one acre 384 
bushels and his net profit was $78. Another boy 
raised 379 bushels which gave him a net gain of 



236 ELEMENTAEY AGEICULTUEE 

$111. Each of these lads received a $40 prize. There 
will now be more attention given to potato raising 
in East Tennessee. (Fig. 114.) 

Tomato Canning Clubs. The Girls' Canning 
Clubs are also doing splendid work in many coun- 
ties, especially in the Southern states. They are 
usually organized by women field agents from the 
Department at Washington. Each club member 
receives instructions about growing and canning 
vegetables, especially tomatoes. (Fig. 115.) They 
are learning to can this vegetable so it will keep; 
they are learning to make excellent catchup, chow- 
chow, chili- sauce, and other relishes. Many fine 
recipes are sent to them from Washington. They 
are also taught how to market their goods to the 
best advantage. 

Girls' Profits. A Virginia girl who made the best 
record for high yield in tomatoes one year obtained 
5,928 pounds of tomatoes from her tenth of an acre 
plot in that season. Many girls have made a profit 
of over $100 from their tenth-acre plots with one 
crop. One Missisi^nppi girl is j)aying her way 
through the State Normal School by canning work. 

Prize Winning" Girls in Washington. During- the 
early days of this movement, fifteen girls, one from 
each of the Southern states, had a free trip to 
Washington as a prize for high class work in 
tomato canning. They were the fortunate winners 
from 25,000 girls who were enrolled in the canning 
clubs during that year- The prizes and trips are not 



BOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUBS 



237 



furnished by the Government, but by public spirited 
people, — bankers, business men's organizations, and 
women's clubs. 

Seeing the President. For several years the state 
champion corn raisers have had the free trip to 
Washington. The winners of the several counties 
had their exhibits displayed at the county fairs, 




Courtesy of U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 

Fig. 115. An Ohio girl in her Tomato Cluh plot. 



and the county winners were met by the state gov- 
ernor and the high score boys were sent off with 
much applause to the nation's capital. They have 
usually visited the Secretary of Agriculture and 
called on the President at the White House. They 
have been everywhere treated as distinguished vis- 
itors. On one occasion they w^ere invited to meet 



238 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep- 
resentatives, and the chairman of that committee 
declared the boys' and girls' clubs movement to be 
the best work the Department of Agriculture had 
ever attempted. 

Getting Information. It is impossible in this 
short chapter to give all the information necessary 
to form any club, but all one wishes to know may 
be obtained from: Office of Farm Management, 
Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 

The Club and School. These clubs are the very 
best way of connecting the work of the country 
schools and the farm home. Parents and teachers 
are working together in this movement. Since the 
teacher is likely to be crowded with her work of 
teaching reading, arithmetic, and the other impor- 
tant subjects that the children must know, she can- 
not do very much experimenting in school hours in 
the way of agriculture. So the club which meets 
after school, in the evenings or on Saturdays, is the 
best means of teaching good practice in agriculture 
and home canning. In this way the entire neighbor- 
hood is receiving instruction. Our Government real- 
izes that the future of American agriculture is 
largely dependent on the boys and girls of to-day, 
and it is the purpose of this club movement to assist 
in instructing and directing the youth of our vil- 
lages and rural communities so that they will appre- 
ciate the fact that farming is a dignified, important, 
and profitable life work. 



PART III 
APPENDIX 



EXERCISES— PROBLEMS— EXPERIMENTS 
THE HORSE 

(Chapter 1) 




1, A' 



Fig. 116. Diagram of a Horse 

2, Withers; 3, Back; 4, Loin 5, Hip; 6, Dock; 7, Gaskin; 8, 
Quarter; 9, Stifle;, 10 Thigh; 11, Hock; 12, Flank; 13, Belly; U, 
Ribs; 15, Chest; 16, Wart; 17, Hoof; 18, Pastern; 19, Fetlock; 20, 
Cannon-hone; 21, Knee; 22, Arm; 23, Forearm; 24, Breast; 25, Shoul- 
der; 26, Throat 



1. Copy the above figure. 

2. Close your book and name the parts of the horse. 

3. If possible, have a horse brought to the school 
grounds and have a contest in naming the parts of his 
body. 

241 



242 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



4. (a) Make a study of the horses of your neighbor- 
hood, (b) How many on each farm? (c) What breed? 

(d) How many farmers have horses from blooded stock? 

(e) Show what the increase of profits might be from 
breeding from pure bred sires over grade sires, (f) 
Make a list of the most common defects of horses, (g) 
Watch for them along the road. 

5. Observe a number of horses to see if they have 
properly shaped legs. Note the proper forms in the illus- 
trations below. 





Fig. 117. Front Legs 



Fig. 118. Hind Legs 



6. If a horse's steady pulling power is 1/10 of his 
weight, what is the steady pulling power of a team weigh- 
ing 2,800 lbs? 

7. The draught of a loaded wagon varies with dif- 



APPENDIX 



243 



ferent road surfaces and according to the width of the 
tire and the height of the wheels. The draught on hard, 
level dirt roads with high-wheeled wagons was found by 
test to be 69 lbs. per ton of load. How many tons could 
two 1,500 lb. horses draw steadily on such roads if the 
pulling power of each horse Avas 1/10 of his weight ? Ans. 
— 4.35 tons. 

8. The draught of the same wagon on gravel roads 
with one inch of sand on top was 85 lbs. per ton of load. 
How many tons could the same team draw steadily over 
such roads pulling as in Exercise 5? Ans. — 3.5 tons. 

9. The draught of the same wagon on wet sod land 
was 170 lbs. per ton load. How much could the same 
team, pulling as in above exercise, draw over such 
ground? Ans. — 1.76 tons. 

10. Copy the drawings below. Examine horses until 
3^ou find the wide and the narroAv hock. 





Fig. 119. Wide Hock. 
This horse endures great labor 
with little fatigue. 



Fig. 120. Narrow Hock. 
This horse is easily fatigued. 



244 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

11. Send to the Agricultural College of your state for 
score cards for judging horses. Ask some farmer who is 
a good judge of horses to appear at school with a horse 
and assist you in this matter. 

12. Train for contest in knot-tying. See Pages 12-13. 
Send to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, 
D. C, for the following farmers' bulletins: Principles 
of Horse Breeding, No. 170; Horse Shoeing, No. 179. 
Farmers' bulletins are mailed without charge. 



CATTLE 

(Chapter 2) 




Fig. 121 Diagram of a Cow 

1, Muzzle; 2, Nostrils; 3, Fore-head; 4, Neck; 5, Withers; 6, Back; 
7, Loin; 8, Pinbone; 9, Rump; 10, Hips; 11, Tail; 12, Quarters; 13, 
Thigh; 14, Cannon; 15, Fetlock; 16, Flank; 17, Udder; 18, Milk Veins; 
19, Belly; 20, Ribs; 21, Shoulder; 22, Fore Arm; 23, Knee; 24, Past- 
ern; 25, Brisket; 26, Chest; 27, Throat. 

1. Copy the above illustration. 

2. Close your book and name the parts of the cow 
from your drawing. 

3. Study the markings of different breeds and learn 
to name them at sight. 

4. Do your state laws require the tuberculin test for 
dairy herds? Have the herds in your neighborhood had 

245 



246 



ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



the test? What are the symptoms of tuberculosis in 
cows ? 

5. Is your barn kept light, clean, and well ventilated? 

6. Ask some farmer who is a good judge of cattle to 
show the class how to judge a fat steer or a dairy cow. 
Send to your state agricultural college for score cards 
for judging beef and dairy cattle. 

7. Learn the parts or cuts of a side of beef as given 
in the illustration. 




Fig. 122. A Side of Beef 

1, Leg; 2, Mouse Buttock; 3, Rump; 4> Round; 5, Sirloin, 6, Veiny 
Piece; 7, Porterhouse (including tenderloin); 8, Thick Flank; 9, Fore 
Rib; 10, Thin Flank; 11, Brisket; 12, Middle Rib; 13, Chuck Rib; 
14, Shoulder; 15, Clod; 16, Shin; 17, Neck, or sticking-piece. 



APPENDIX 



247 



The Babcock Milk Test 

8. The value of a dairy cow may be known from two 
factors: (1) the amount of milk given and (2) its rich- 
ness in butter-fat. The amount of milk is determined by 
weighing, while the butter-fat may be found from the 
Babcock test. Have some pupil bring a sample of milk 
taken immediately after the milking is done and after 
the milk has been poured two or three times from one 
vessel to another so as to mix it thoroughly. 

For testing butter-fat you need the following : 



(a) 
(b) 
(c) 
(d) 
(e) 
(f) 
(g) 



A Babcock Tester, 

Two or three milk test-bottles, 

A pipette to measure the milk, 

A small glass measure for acid, 

A pint bottle of Sulphuric Acid, 

Hot water, 

A few ounces of milk to be tested. 




Babcock 



Tester 



[Equipment may be obtained from a. flaxagan company, Chicago. 
Four Bottle Milk Tester, $5.00. Four Bottle Milk and Cream Tester, 
$5.50. Weight boxed, 10 lbs. Transportation charges additional.] 



248 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

Follow these directions carefully : 

(a) Stir milk thoroughly before taking sample. This 
is best done by pouring milk gently back and forth sev- 
eral times between two vessels so the cream, or fat is 
evenly mixed. 

(b) With the small end of a pipette suck up the milk 
above the mark on the tube. Then close upper end with 
your forefinger, releasing finger slowly to allow the milk 
to fall until it stands just even with the mark 17.6 cc, 
being careful to hold the pipette straight up and down. 

(c) Empty the pipette into the test bottle and blow 
to drive out all the milk. 

(d) Fill the acid measure with sulphuric acid to the 
mark shown and put this into the test bottle with the 
milk. Remember the acid must be handled with care. If 
any gets on hands or clothing it should be washed off 
quickly with water. 

(e) Shake the bottle to mix milk and acid thoroughly. 

(f) Place bottles (several tests may be made at once) 
in the machine and whirl five minutes. The bottles 
should be hot when whirled; they may be placed in hot 
water before being used. For whirling place bottles op- 
posite one another in the machine to keep balance. 

(g) With pipette or other means add hot water to 
each bottle until filled to the bottom of the neck and 
whirl two minutes. 

(h) Add more hot water to bring the contents nearly 
to the top of the marks on the neck of the bottle, and 
again whirl one minute. 

(i) Hold bottle upright on a level with the eye and 
read the marks at the extreme top and bottom of the fat 



APPENDIX 249 

column. The difference between these readmgs is the 
percentage of fat in the milk. There are five small spaces 
between each two of the per cent marks. Each small space 
represents .2%. Thus, if the fat column runs even with 
the fourth short mark above 7, its reading would be 7.8%. 
(j) Empty and Avash test bottles. 

9. The test will show the per cent of butter-fat. It 
should run between three per cent in poor dairy cow^s and 
six or seven per cent in very fine dairy stock. To find 
the amount of butter-fat in a gallon of milk, multiply 
81/2 lbs. by the per cent found in the test. (]\Iilk varies 
in weight according to the amount of butler- fat.) 

10. How many pounds of butter-fat in 4,000 lbs. of 
milk that tests 4:% ? 

11. How much less butter-fat if the milk tests 3% ? 

12. A coAv gives an average of 18 lbs. of 4% milk per 
day for 300 days each year. What income does she yield 
annually with butter-fat at 25 cents a pound? 

13. A dairy farmer has two cows each producing 
6,000 lbs. of milk a year. The Babcock test shows the 
milk of one cow to contain 3%, and the other 6i/^% of 
butter-fat. What is the difference in income from the 
two cows when butter-fat averages 27 cents a pound? 

14. A certain farmer kept ten pure bred Guernseys, 
each of which produced daily, 30 lbs. of 6% milk. The 
production of this herd always declined during July and 
August on account of flies to an average of 25 lbs. daily. 
By spraying his herd regularly to ward off flies the 
farmer kept the herd up to its daily amount of 30 lbs. 
What was the money saved in the two summer months 
by spraying when butter-fat w^as 22 cents a pound? 



250 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

Send to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, 
D. C, for the following farmers ' bulletins : Some Essen- 
tials in Beef Production, No. 71 ; Dehorning of Cattle, 
No. 350; Exterminating the Texas Fever Tick, No. 498; 
The Babcock Milk Test. 



MILK AND BUTTER 
(Chapter 3) 

1. Fat and Butter. The churn collects fat globules 
into butter, which is then worked and salted. Thus there 
is left in the butter some water, salt, milk, sugar, and 
casein. So the fat when churned and made into butter 
produces 1/6 more butter by weight than the fat con- 
tent of the milk or cream. Add 1/6 of the weight of the 
butter-fat to the butter-fat to find the weight of the butter. 

2. From 360 lbs. of butter-fat, how many pounds of 
butter can be made? Ans. — 420 lbs. 

3. If 2 cents a pound would cover the expense of mak- 
ing butter, would it pay better to sell butter-fat to the 
creamery at 23 cents a pound or to make it into butter 
and sell it at 28 cents a pound? (Remember to add 1/6.) 

4. A certain Jersey cow yielded in a year 6,000 lbs. of 
milk that tested 5.8% butter-fat. At 28 cents a pound 
what was the value of the butter (not butter-fat) which 
she produced? 

5. Skim milk from setting in shallow pans or crocks, 
contains about .8% butter-fat, while skim milk from 
the separator contains about .05%. How many pounds 
of butter-fat are left in 1,200 lbs. of skim milk from 
shallow pans? From separator? 

6. If a farmer produces enough milk daily for 110 lbs. 

251 



252 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

of skim milk from shallow pans, how much would he save 
in the year if he bought a separator costing $75 ? 

7. If possible get a worn out cream separator and 
bring it to school. Each boy in the class should take it 
apart and put it together again. 

8. If you live in a dairy section, visit a creamery and 
observe methods and machinery used. 

Send to the Department of Agriculture, "Washington, 
D. C, for the following farmers' bulletins: The Dairy 
Herd, Its Formation and Management, No. 55 ; Dairying 
in the South, No. 151 ; Buttermaking on the Farm, No. 
241; Bacteria in Milk, No. 348; Tuberculin Test of Cat- 
tle for Tuberculosis, No. 351. 



SHEEP 

(Chapter 4) 




21 ZZ 

Fig. 124. Diagram of a Sheep 

1, Muzzle; 2, Nostril; 3, Eye; 4, Ear; 5, Throat; 6, Withers; 7, Back; 
8, Loin; 9, Rmnp; 10, Angle of Ilium; 11, Tail or Dock; 1^, Hip 
Joint; 13, Flank; U, Hock Joint; 15, Stifle Joint; 16, Belly; 17, Side 
or Barrel; IS, Girth Measure; 19, Forearm; 20, Shoulder; 21, Ankle; 
22, Claw; 23, Knee; 24, Elbow; 25, Chest; 26, Neck. 

1. Copy the above figure. 

2. Close your book and name the parts of a sheep 
from your drawing. 

3. If it costs 25 cents per rod to build a fence suitable 
for cattle, and 50 cents per rod to build a fence for 

253 



254 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

sheep, what is the additional cost to fence a square 10-acre 
field for sheep? 

4. Mention some of the advantages, aside from the 
money income, in having sheep upon your farm? 

5. A farmer buys 80 sheep at $6.25 each. What was 
the total cost? 

6. At shearing time they average TVi lbs. of wool each. 
How much is the total amount of wool worth at 22 cents 
per pound? 

7. From the eighty sheep the farmer raises 75 lambs 
worth $5 each. What is the total income from the herd 
for lambs and wool? 

8. Study the sheep raising industry of your neighbor- 
hood as follows: (a) How many sheep on each farm on 
the average? (b) What breed? (c) Are they raised 
chiefly for wool or for mutton? 

9. Compare the labor and profit of caring for five 
dairy cows with that for thirty head of sheep. 

10. Debate: Resolved: That it would be profitable to 
extend the sheep raising industry of this community. 

11. Collect a number of woolen fabrics for a contest 
in judging how many are all wool. Test by burning w4th 
a match threads of the warp and woof separately. 
Woolen threads fry and show grease oozing out while 
cotton threads blaze up brightly. 

12. Show how to keep an account of a flock of sheep 
giving cost of food and care and also income. 

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, 
D. C, for the following farmers' bulletins: Raising 
Sheep for Mutton, No. 96 ; Sheep Feeding, No. 49 ; Angora 
Goats, No. 137 ; Scab in Sheep, No. 159. 



SM^NE 

(Chapter 5) 




15 16 



19 20 




Fig. 125. Diagram of a Hog 



1, Snout; 2, Eye; 3, Ear; 4, Neck; 5, Shoulder, 6, Back; 7, Side; 8, Loin; 
9, Rump; 10, Tail; 11, Ham; 12, Hock; 13, Hind Leg; I4, Dew 
Claw; 15, Pastern; 16, Foot; 17, Stifle; 18, Hind Flank; 19, Belly; 
20, Fore Flank; 21, Fore Leg; 22, Breast; 23, Jowl, 

1. Copy the above illustration. 

2. Close your book and name the parts of the hog 
from your drawing. 

3. Make a list of the hogs on your own farm. Have 
your father give you the value of each. What different 
breeds are on your farm? 

4. Do you try to feed balanced rations? If so, how 
do you mix the feed? 



255 



256 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



5. What are some of the advantages or disadvantages 
of raising hogs in your communit}^ instead of slieep or 
cattle? 

6. Find the value of a hog weighing 245 pounds at 
6l^ cents a pound. 

7. A sow has nine pigs in a litter. When eight months 
old the pigs weigh 210 pounds each. What is the weight 
of all and what are they worth at 61/4 cents per pound? 

8. If a bushel of corn costing 50 cents will produce 10 
pounds of pork, how much does the feed cost for one 
pound of pork? 

9. If it requires 8 pounds of ear corn to make one 
pound of pork, how many iDounds of pork will 80 bushels 
of ear corn make? (70 pounds per bushel.) How much 
will the pork be worth at 8 cents per pound? 

10. If the corn in the above problem costs 50 cents 
per bushel, find the profit from feeding. 

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, 
D. C, for the following farmers' bulletins: No. 100; 
No. 133; No. 205; No. 272. 



POULTRY 
(Chapter 6) 




Fig. 126. Diagram oj a Rooster 

1, Comb; 2, Beak; 3, Wattles; 4, Ear, 5, Hackle; 6, Breast; 7, Back; 
8, Saddle; 9, Sickles; 10, Main Tail Feathers; 11, Saddle Feathers; 
12, Wing-Bow; 13, Wing-Bar; lU, Secondaries, wing-bay; 15, Prim- 
aries or flight feathers; 16, Fluff; 17, Thigh; 18, Hock; 19, Shank 
or Leg; 20, Spur; 21, Toe or Claw, 

1. Copy the above illustration. 

2. Close your book and name the parts of the rooster 
from your drawing. 



257 



258 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

3. How to test infertile eggs : 

Place a small lamp or lantern in a box with a small 
hole in the top for draft. Cut another hole a little smaller 
than an egg in the side of the box, just opposite the flame 
of the lamp. Take this apparatus into a dark room and 
hold the egg against the opening in front of the flame. 
As the light shines through, the infertile egg — that is the 
one that will not hatch — will appear clear. The fertile 
egg will show a net work of threads running out from 
the center and floating about as the egg is turned. A 
number of hens should be set at the same time and after 
or about the sixth day all the eggs should be tested and 
the infertile ones removed ; then one or more of the hens 
may be released and the fertile eggs distributed among 
the other hens. 

4. Make a candler test apparatus like that above and 
bring to school. Bring fresh and stale eggs from home 
to be tested. If the eggs are fresh the air cell in the end 
of the egg should be no larger than a dime, the contents 
should look opaque, the yoke scarcely visible and free 
from any discoloring, the white should be thick and com- 
pact, and the yolk should be stationary — not floating 
about. In order to obtain the highest prices, eggs should 
be uniform in shape and color with a smooth shell that 
is free from spots and clean without having been washed. 

5. Learn the U. S. Government's rules for profit in 
eggs as given below : 

(a) **Keep the nests clean; provide one nest for each 
four hens. 

(b) Gather the eggs twice each day. 

(c) Keep the eggs in a cool dry room or cellar. 

(d) Market the eggs at least twice a week. 



APPENDIX 259 

(e) Market or confine all male fowls as soon as the 
hatching season is over. 

6. If each of 100 hens averages 90 eggs a year, what 
is the income from the flock with eggs at 20 cents a 
dozen ? 

7. How many bushels of shelled corn will it buy at 
45 cents a bushel? Of Avheat at 70 cents? 

8. If it takes 12 bushels of corn at 50 cents a bushel, 
5 bushels of oats at 30 cents, and $7.50 worth of other 
feed to keep this flock for one year, what is the net profit? 

9. At 18 cents a pound, what should be received for 
80 hens weighing 6i/^ pounds each? 

10. The farmers of a community market all their eggs 
together. If each farm produces 30 eggs per day, how 
many farms will be needed to fill 7 cases a week, each 
holding 30 dozen? 

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, 
D. C, for the following farmers' bulletins: No. 51; No. 
64; No. 186; No. 200. 



BIRDS 

(Chapter 10) 

1. Make a list of birds you can name at sight. What 
do you know of the feeding and nesting habits of each 
of these? 

2. Make a list of the birds that remain over winter 
in your neighborhood. What birds migrate? Where do 
they go, and why? 

3. Keep a Avatch for birds that you do not recognize 
and take notice of their habits. Get a bird book and see 
if you can identify them. 

4. Make a list of birds that search for food on the 
leaves of trees ; of birds that catch flying insects ; of birds 
that search for insects in the bark of trees ; of birds that 
eat weed seeds. 

5. If the damage done by insects in your communit}^ 
is 30 cents an acre, how much would that amount to 
on your farm? 

6. If there are four birds on every acre, how many 
birds would there be on your farm? In your township? 

7. If each bird eats 50 insects a day, how many in- 
sects would be destroj^ed in your township during the 
months of June, July and August? 

8. If 30,000 insects fill a peck measure, how many 
pecks of insects would the birds of your township eat 
during the three summer months? 

9. Read Longfellow's poem entitled ^^The Birds of 
Killingworth. " 

[Colored pictures of all birds can be obtained from the pubHshers 
of this book— A. tlanagan company, chicaoo. Size 7x9 inches, 
2 cents each.] 

260 



APPENDIX 261 

Send to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, 
D. C, for the following farmers' bulletins: Some Com- 
mon Birds and Their Relation to Agriculture, No. 54; 
Our Grosbeaks and Their Value to Agriculture, No. 456 ; 
Food of Some Well Known Birds of Forest, Farm, and 
Garden, No. 506 ; Fifty Common Birds of Farm and Or- 
chard, No. 513. 



SOIL 
(Chapter 11) 

1. Weigh a quart fruit can full of rich black soil. 
Dry thoroughly by holding over a fire, being careful not 
to burn, and then weigh again. The difference is the 
weight of the water content of the soil. What per cent 
of the soil is water? 

2. Place the soil in a pan and burn it. Cool and weigh 
again. The loss in weight is the humus or organic mat- 
ter of the soil. What per cent is organic matter? The 
portion remaining is the mineral matter. What per cent 
is mineral matter? 

3. Fill three small flower pots with finely pulverized 
soil, one with clay, one with sand and one with loam. 
As you weigh these add enough to make them weigh the 
same. Pour water slowly into each pot until the soils 
are thoroughly wet and the water begins to run out at 
the bottom. Then weigh the pots of wet soil, and find 
which is holding the most water. Which soil took in 
the water the quickest? Which the most slowly? In 
case of heavy rain, which soil would absorb the great- 
est amount of water? Notice which flower pot continues 
to drip the longest and which drains the most rapidly. 
What bearing does this experiment have on farming? 

4. Break bottoms from three large vinegar bottles of 
uniform size. Fill one with loam, one with clay, and one 
with sand. Tie a cloth over the mouth of each bottle 
and place in a rack as shown in Fig. 127 m that the ends 

262 



APPENDIX 



263 



reach down into tumblers of water. Fill each tumbler to 
the same height. Note the rise of the water in the dif- 
ferent soils, the height, and the time it takes. In which 
soil does the water rise most rapidly? In w^hich to the 
greatest height ? This power of soil to draw water from 
below is called capillarity and the water is called capil- 
lary water. What lesson on farming do we learn from 
this experiment? 




Fig. 127. Action of Water in Soil 



5. Fill three bottles to the depth of about one inch 
with clay, sand, and loam. Then completely fill all three 
bottles with water and shake thoroughly. Set the bottles 
in a quiet place and let their contents settle. Observe 
which soil settles to the bottom most quickly, keeping 
a record of the time required for the water to become 
clear in each bottle. 

6. Crumble a piece of clay into fine particles. Do 
the same w^ith loam and with sandy soil. Which soil, 



264 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

in your opinion, will be the most satisfactory under till- 
age? 

7. Many soils contain acid, and so certain crops 
such as clover and alfalfa will not grow well in them. 
Bury a small piece of blue litmus paper, which you can 
secure from the druggist, in moist soil obtained two or 
three inches under the surface from different parts of 
your field. Allow it to remain five minutes. If the 
paper turns red the soil is acid and needs lime. Use 
this litmus paper test on the different fields of 3^our farm. 

8. Is the manure on your home farm collected under 
cover upon a water tight floor? What advantage has 
this method over that of leaving manure in the barn 
yard? 

9. AVhat fertilizers are used on your farm ? How much 
is applied per acre and what is the cost ? "What is meant 
by 8-3-3 fertilizer? 

10. Make a ball of wet clay and leave it to dry. Make 
another ball of clay mixed w^ith sand and one of clay 
mixed with a little lime. How do these three balls com- 
pare ? What lesson do we learn from this experiment ? 

11. Fill two large pails or cans with moist soil. Shake 
down well by jarring the vessel. Weigh each one and 
place in a dry place for a week. Leave one undisturbed, 
but keep a mulch on the other by stirring it well each 
day to a depth of two inches. At the end of a week 
weigh both pails. Which has lost the greater amount 
of moisture? What lesson do we learn from this? 

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, 
D. C, for the following farmers' bulletins: No. 44; No. 
187; No. 192; No. 245. 



PLANTS 

(Chapter 12) 

1. Place a moist blotter or cloth upon a plate con- 
taining several radish seeds. After a few days observe 
the delicate root hairs on the roots of the germinating 
seeds. 

2. Place a few grains of corn on a piece of marble 
slab and cover them with soil two inches deep. After 
ten days remove the plants and wash the marble. Notice 
that the roots have dissolved a little of the marble. This 
is done by means of carbon dioxide, which is supplied 
from the roots. 

3. Fill two tin cans with the same kind of soil after 
driving several small holes in the bottom of one of the 
cans. Plant seed at the same depth in each and add water 
until the soil is thoroughly moist. After several days 
observe in which can the seeds have germinated more 
quickly. What was wrong with the other can that the 
seed did not germinate so well ? 

4. In two tin cans with holes in the bottoms place the 
same amount of soil and plant seeds. In one can 
add much water and puddle the soil around the seeds. 
Moisten the soil in the other can and keep it loose and 
mellow. When the plants have begun to grow, what 
difference do you observe? 

5. Plant tomato seeds in a small box of soil and keep 
it in a warm room. Fill a number of small paper boxes 
with soil at the same time, and plant two or three tomato 
seeds in each. After the plants come up in the paper 

265 



266 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

boxes remove all but one from each box. When the 
proper garden planting time comes, place the paper 
boxes in .the ground without disturbing the tomato 
plants. At the same time, transplant an equal number of 
tomato plants from the wooden box. What differences 
do you notice in the results from the two methods? 

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, 
D. C, for the following farmers' bulletins : Testing Farm 
Seeds in the Home and the Rural School, No. 428 ; School 
Garden, No. 218; Tomatoes, No. 220; Home Vegetable 
Garden, No. 255 ; Celery, No. 282 ; Onions, No. 354 ; Can- 
ning Vegetables in the Home, No. 359 ; Cabbage, No. 433. 



FARM MACHINERY 

(Chapter 13) 

1. Make a list of the different kinds of plows, har- 
rows, reapers and planters. Which of each kind do you 
think the best, and why? 

2. Have some farm machine or implement, such as 
a plow, brought to school. Take it apart and set it up 
again, examining construction of each part. 

3. Learn these rules for the care of farm machinery: 

(a) Never leave a machine or tool in the field to rust. 

(b) As soon as you are through with a tool or ma- 
chine for the season, clean, oil, and place under shelter. 

(c) All implements and vehicles must be kept oiled. 

(d) Every farmer should have a tool kit and should 
repair machines promptly. 



CORN 

(Chapter 14) 

1. On a glass or cup of Avater place a blotter and over 
it place a small strip of cloth so that it extends down into 
the water. This acts as a lamp wick and draws up the 
water to keep the blotter moist. On the blotter place 
several grains of corn and cover with another blotter. 
Keep in a warm place and observe from day to day the 
sprouting of the corn. Observe the root hairs. How 
many temporary roots are there? 

2. In a tall pot or jar, plant five grains of corn at each 
of the following depths : one, two, four, and six inches. 
Place them in a warm room and keep moist, but not too 
wet. From day to day note the growth at each depth, 
both the temporary and the permanent roots. Observe 
the time it takes for the plants to come up from each 
depth. 

3. Test some seed corn as follows : 

Fill a box three or four inches deep and a foot square 
with sand. Across the top place a cloth on which squares 
have been drawn three inches each way and numbered, 1, 
2, 3, etc. Number several ears of corn, one for each 
square. Take six grains from each, and place them in the 
corresponding squares. Take the kernels from different 
parts of the ear, but not from the base or tip. Cover 
them with another cloth and two or three inches of sand. 
Keep moist and warm. If the grains of all the squares 

267 



268 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

do uot sprout well within four or five days, the ears of 
the corresponding numbers should be discarded from 
your seed corn supply. 

4. In testing your father's seed corn, a box thirty-six 
inches square and three inches deep will enable you to 
test much more rapidly. (See also paragraph 13.) 

5. Kernels for planting should be of uniform size so 
that the planter will drop the same number regularly. 
Shell the kernels from the tip, the butt, and some from 
the middle of the ear and keep them in separate piles. 
Place three grains from the middle of the ear on a sheet 
of paper close together. Draw a circle around them with 
a pencil as closely as possible. Eemove the grains and 
place three from the butt or from the tip in the same 
circle. Po they fill the circle? What bearing does this 
have upon the corn planter? 

6. If a farmer increases his crop of corn six bushels 
per acre by careful selection of his seed, how much more 
income would he get from 45 acres when corn sells at 
50 cents per bushel? 

7. If a bushel of seed corn will plant 7 acres, what is 
the cost per acre when seed corn is $2.00 per bushel? 

8. If corn is planted in check rows 3 feet, 8 inches 
apart each way, how many square feet does each hill of 
corn occupy ? How many hills on an acre ? 

Answers : 14 4/9 square feet ; 3,240 hills. 

9. If 6 of the 10 kernels taken from an ear of corn 
that is being tested grow, what per cent does the ear 
germinate ? 

10. Twenty full sized ears of corn Avill usually plant 
one acre. If 2 of the ears will not grow, what per cent 
of the corn will be missing in an acre? In youi field? 



APPENDIX 269 

11. An acre was planted with. 20 ears of corn, five of 
which did not germinate. The acre produced 30 bushels 
of corn. What would it have produced if all the seed 
had grown? 

12. A farmer increased his crop of corn 15 bushels an 
acre by testing the seed. What will be his additional 
income in 5 years on 40 acres with, corn at 50 cents a 
bushel? 

13. The most convenient way to test seed corn at school 
is by using the "rag-doll" tester. It is merely a strip of 
muslin about five feet long and nine inches wide. Mark 
spaces on this strip and number them so you can identify 
the ears you are testing. Place the kernels from the ears 
in the spaces just as in the sawdust tester, and roll care- 
fully and tightly from both ends, keeping the kernels in 
the proper spaces. Tie a string around the roll and stand 
the roll, with tips of the kernels down, in a bucket of tepid 
water for several hours. Then place the roll under an 
inverted bucket so the moisture will not dry out. 

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, 
D. C, for the following farmers' bulletins: Silos and 
Silage, No, 32 ; Production of Good Seed Corn, No. 229 ; 
Germination of Seed Corn, No. 253 ; Food Value of Corn, 
No. 298; Harvesting and Storing Corn, No. 313; Corn 
Harvesting Machinery, No. 303; Corn Cultivation, No. 
414; Seed Corn, No. 415; Corn Culture in the South, 
No. 81. 



WHEAT 

(Chapter 15) 

1. Make a collection of the most common kinds of 
wheat and place a sample of each in a small bottle, 
properly labeled. 

2. Plant about thirty grains of wheat in a pan of 
earth. At the end of each week take out two or three 
of the sprouting grains and make drawings of the roots. 

3. Mustard may be destroyed in grain fields with a 
20% solution of iron sulphate, costing about 90 cents 
per hundred pound sack. 100 pounds dissolved in 50 
gallons of water will make a 20% solution which is enough 
to spray 1 acre. What is the cost of solution needed to 
spray 60 acres of wheat? 

4. If a team travels 15 miles a day drawing a spray- 
ing machine that covers a strip 16 feet wide, what will 
be the cost per acre for labor if the man, team, and ma- 
chine are worth $4 per day? 

5. How many pounds of wheat (60 lbs. to the bushel) 
are produced on 12% acres yielding 20 bushels per acre? 

6. If 7/10 of wheat is starch, how many pounds of 
starch are there in 30 bushels of Avheat? 

7. If it takes 4.77 bushels of wheat to make one bar- 
rel of flour, how many barrels of flour can be made from 
a 30 acre field of wheat, harvesting 15 bushels to the acre ? 

8. If wheat for seeding contains 1/20 weed seed how 
much land will a farmer sow to Aveeds if he plants 60 
acres to wheat? 

270 



OATS 
(Chapter 21) 

1. Make a collection of specimens of fine grades of 
oats and place them in bottles properly labeled. 

2. Plant twenty-five or thirty grains of oats and after 
a week dig up a few of them and observe the temporary 
roots. How many are there? After another week has 
elapsed dig up other plants and observe the growth of 
permanent roots. Continue this observation at intervals 
of a week and make drawings. 

3. A farmer threshes 1,200 bushels of oats. In each 
bushel there are 4 pounds of weed seed. What per cent 
of his crop is weeds? How many pounds of weed seed 
does he gather? 

4. If it requires 4 pounds of twine per acre, costing 15 
cents per pound, to tie up grain, how much does it cost 
to tie up the weeds in a 20 acre field, if 1/12 of the crop 
is weeds? 

5. If formaldehyde costs fifty cents per pint and a 
pint will treat 40 bushels of oats, how much will it cost 
to treat the seed oats on 30 acres, sowing 3 bushels to the 
acre? 

6. Test 100 grains of seed oats, using the rag doll tester. 
Find the number of strong, weak and dead grains. What 
per cent is there of each kind in your test? (See page 
269 for tester.) 

271 



POTATOES 

(-Chapter 19) 

1. Bring some sprouting potatoes to school and place 
them in a warm, moist place. Observe the sprouting of 
the eyes. 

2. Cut a potato in about one-half as many pieces as 
it has eyes. Plant these in a box of earth or in the ground 
and pull up a plant every few days to observe the grawth 
of roots and tubers. How long after planting do the 
young tubers start? 

3. If it takes 200 gallons of Bordeaux mixture, cost- 
ing $1.50, to spray one acre of potatoes once, and it 
takes two applications to cure the blight, what is the 
cost of the mixture for spraying 10 acres of potatoes for 
the season? 

4. How many bushels of potatoes worth 60 cents a 
bushel will be needed to pay the extra cost of spraying? 

5. If an acre of potatoes yields 110 bushels, what is 
the value of the crop at 40 cents per bushel? 

6. If a potato farmer gave his crop careful attention 
it would cost him $25.00 per acre to grow potatoes. What 
is the net profit per acre if the yield is 110 bushels worth 
40 cents a bushel ? 

7. Potatoes are usually planted in rows 3 feet apart 
with hills 16 inches apart in the row. How many square 
feet of ground does each hill occupy? How many hills 
will there be in an acre containing 43,560 square feet? 

272 



APPENDIX 273 

8. John Robbins raised 3,000 bushels of potatoes and 
was offered 40 cents a bushel for them in November. 
After storing them through the winter, he sold them at 
75 cents per bushel. If the potatoes shrank 1/10, what 
was his gain by keeping them over winter ? 

9. At another time John stored his crop of 3,000 bush- 
els rather than sell them for 50 cents per bushel. The 
following spring he was forced to sell his crop for 40 
cents per bushel. What did he lose if they shrank 1/10? 

10. Hold a potato paring contest among the girls of 
the class, weighing the parings and the peeled potatoes. 

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, 
D. C, for the following farmers' bulletins: Potato Cul- 
ture, No. 35; Potato as a Truck Crop, No. 407; Potatoes 
and Other Root Crops as Food, No. 295. 

WEEDS 
(Chapter 20) 

1. If one extra harrowing killed enough weeds to 
increase the corn crop 3 bushels an acre, how much was the 
clear gain for this work on 100 acres when corn sells at 
50 cents per bushel? 

2. If morning glories destroy 162 hills of an acre of 
corn that has 3240 hills, what per cent of the crop is left ? 

3. If the acre of corn yields 57 bushels, how much 
would it have yielded if the morning glories had been 
destroyed ? 

4. If a clean field produces 56 bushels of corn an acre 
and a weedy field only 34 bushels, what is the loss per 
acre caused by weeds when corn sells for 45 cents a bushel ? 

5. If quack grass reduces the yield of corn 8 bushels 
per acre, what is the loss when corn is selling at 55 cents 
a bushel? 



FRUIT 
(Chapter 21) 

1. Visit a fruit grower if possible and ask him to show 
you how to graft a scion of one tree to the stock of an- 
other. Learn also how to remove a bud from a branch 
and attach it to the branch of another tree. 

2. Bend to the ground a branch of a grape vine or of a 
black raspberry vine. Cover part of it with several 
inches of soil, but leave several inches of the end of the 
branch above ground. After a few weeks see if the 
buried branch has taken root. If so, separate it from the 
old plant by cutting. 

3. Weigh two apples of about the same size separately. 
Peel one and leave the other unpeeled. Weigh each apple 
the next day. Which has lost more in weight, and why ? 

4. Have an apple paring and an apple coring contest 
among the pupils, weighing the apples before and after. 

5. Try at home to can Avindf all apples as follows : 
**Peel, core, and slice; scald 1 minute in boiling water; 

plunge in cold water. Pack in glass or tin and add about 
one teacup full of hot thin syrup to each. Put on rubber 
and top and partially tighten. Sterilize 16 minutes in 
hot water. Remove, tighten covers, and invert to cool." 

6. What will it cost to set out a young apple orchard 
of 10 acres square, with trees costing 25 cents each, if 
the trees are planted in squares 36 feet apart? 

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, 
D. C, for the following farmers' bulletins: No. 33, No. 
113, No. 154. 

274 



BOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUBS 

(Chapter 27) 

1. Li 1913 Walker Dunson of Alabama led the corn 
club boys in the crop of that year. He raised 232 7/10 
bushels on one acre at a cost of only 19 9/10 cents per 
bushel. What was the net profit on his acre with corn 
selling at 50 cents a bushel? 

2. Jerry Moore, a former corn champion of South 
Carolina, raised 228 75/100 bushels at a cost of 42 cents 
per bushel. If each crop sold at 50 cents per bushel, 
which had the greater profit? 

3. The ordinary yield of tomatoes is about 8 tons per 
acre. The best culture secures 18 tons per acre. If the 
canning factory pays $8.50 a ton, how much greater is 
the income from 3% acres of tomatoes given the best cul- 
ture than that from the same acreage given ordinary 
treatment ? 

4. Merle Hyer of Lewiston has the world's record po- 
tato yield — 764 bushels per acre. It cost him $60.00 and 
his net profit was $398.00. What was the selling price 
per bushel? 

Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, 
D. C, for the following farmers' bulletins: No. 104; 
No. 154; No. 155 ; No. 218 ; No. 255 ; No. 521 ; No. 803. 

Note. — For Agricultural Club Organization Blank Forms, address 

Department op Agriculture 

Bureau of Plant Industry 

Office of the Farm Management — Club Work 

Washington, D, C. 

275 



USEFUL INFORMATION 

EVEEY GIBL SHOULD KNOW HOW TO BEMOFE STAINS 

Tar or Wagon Grease. Cold soapsuds will remove most 
stains if used before the garment is dipped in hot water. 
For pitch stains, grease with lard before using soap and 
water. Turpentine will remove all such stains. 

Grass. Remove grass stains when fresh if possible. Al- 
cohol, naphtha soap and water, or ammonia and water 
will remove grass stains. 

Ink. Wet the spot with warm water, apply sapolio, 
and rub gently between the hands, or wash in a solution 
of hydrochloric acid and rinse in ammonia water. 

Mildew. Mix equal parts of soft soap and starch, half 
as much common salt and the juice of half a lemon, spread 
over the spots and lay the article on the grass for twenty- 
four hours or until the stain disappears. 

Blood Stains. Fresh stains may be rubbed out after 
soaking in cold or tepid water. If very dry, use javelle 
water or peroxide of hydrogen. Kerosene in water will 
remove obstinate stains. Articles that cannot conveni- 
ently be washed, may be cleaned by making a paste of 
bulk starch and cold water, spreading on thickly and 
drying in the sunlight. When dry brush off and repeat 
process. 

Iron Rust. Apply salt and lemon juice to the dampened 
spots and place in the sun or near the fire. Rinse 
thoroughly. 

Fruit Stains. Pour boiling water over the surface, hav- 
ing it fall from a distance of three feet, or wring article 
out of cold water and hang out of doors on a frosty night. 

276 



APPENDIX 277 

If obstinate, diluted muriatic acid, javelle water, or 
sulphur fumes are good. 

Meat Juice. Hot water will set the stain. Soak in cold 
water, Avash in suds of cold water, and rinse in cold 
water. 

Paint Spots. Equal parts of ammonia and turpentine 
will remove paint stains of long standing. 

Tea, Coffee, or Cocoa. Wash in cold water, cover with 
glycerine, and let stand two or three hours; wash with 
cold Avater and hard soap. If stains are fresh, pour 
boiling water through from a height after soaking. 

Perspiration. Soak in cold water, wash with borax, 
and exi30se garment to sunshine. Stains under the arms 
recpiire an acid, such as a Aveak solution of muriatic acid. 

Burned Cooking Utensils. To clean granite ware where . 
mixtures have been burned on. Half fill with cold water, 
adding any good soap or washing powder; heat water 
gradually to the boiling point. 

INSECTICIDES AND FUNGICIDES 

For Biting Insects — Poisons. 

1. Arsenate of Lead. 

Arsenate of lead 2 to 3 pounds 

Water, or Bordeaux, or lime-sulphur 50 gallons 

Arsenate of lead is found on the market both as a pow- 
der and as a putty-like paste. The paste must be worked 
free in water before it is added to the lime-sulphur mix- 
ture or to the Bordeaux mixture. The paste form of the 
poison is used at the rate of tAvo or three pounds to each 
fifty gallons of the liquid and is added to it after it has 
been Avell dissolved in Avater. 



278 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

2. Wet Paris Green. 

Paris green 14 pound 

Lime 1/2 pound 

Water 50 gallons 

If the above amount of Paris green is to be used with 
fifty gallons of Bordeaux mixture the half-pound of lime 
should be omitted. 

3. Dry Paris Green. 

Paris green 1 pound 

Powdered lime 20 pounds 

For Sucking Insects. 

4. Kerosene Emulsion. 

Strong hard soap, shaved fine I/2 pound 

Water 1 gallon 

Kerosene or crude petroleum 2 gallons 

The soap should be dissolved in the water by boiling, 
remove from the fire while still boiling hot and at a safe 
distance from the fire add the oil, stirring violently until 
it is thick like cream. If it is well made it will keep 
indefinitely and may be diluted when needed for use. 
During the growing time of summer, for plant lice and 
other soft-bodied insects, dilute the emulsion with fifteen 
parts of water; for the red spider and other plant mites, 
the same, with the addition of one ounce of flowers of 
sulphur to the gallon; for scale insects, the large plant 
bugs, and larva', dilute with from seven to ten parts of 
water. Apply with a spray pump. 



APPENDIX 279 

5. Bordeaux Mixture — Used as a Fungicide to Prevent 
Diseases. 

Copper sulphate (bluestone) 6 pounds 

Unslaked lime 4 pounds 

Water 50 gallons 

Dissolve the copper sulphate at the rate of one pound 
of copper to a gallon of water. Slake the lime until it 
is thick like cream. This is a stock solution and may be 
kept covered until needed. 

6. Lime-sulphur — to Kill San Jose Scale and Prevent 
Disease. 

Powdered flowers of sulphur 15 pounds 

Burned lime 15 to 20 pounds 

Water 50 gallons 

Add the wet sulphur and the slaked lime to ten gallons 
of boiling water. Boil for an hour or until well dissolved. 
Add water to make fifty gallons. 



FERTILIZERS FOR DIFFERENT CROPS 

These formulas must vary according to the soils 
Field Corn. 

Ground bone 250 pounds 

Acid phosphate 500 pounds 

Muriate of potash 250 pounds 

Apply 200 to 300 pounds to each acre on manured soils ; 
300 to 500 pounds on medium soils without manure. In- 
crease nitrogen for forage corn or ensilage. 



280 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

Oats. 

Nitrate of soda 150 pounds 

Tankage .200 pounds 

Acid phosphate 600 pounds 

Muriate of potash 50 pounds 

Apply on good soils, 200 to 300 pounds to an acre; 300 
to 500 pounds per acre on medium soils with manure. 

Wheat. 

Dried blood 150 pounds 

Tankage 1 00 pounds 

Acid phosphate 700 pounds 

Muriate of potash 50 pounds 

Apply same as oats. 

Early Potatoes. 

Nitrate of soda 100 pounds 

Sulphate of ammonia 100 pounds 

Tankage 100 pounds 

Acid phosphate 500 pounds 

Sulphate or muriate of potash 200 pounds 

Apply from 500 to 1,200 pounds per acre. 

Sweet Potatoes. 

Tankage 300 pounds 

Dried blood 100 pounds 

Acid phosphate 400 pounds 

Muriate of potash 200 pounds 

Apply from 500 to SCO pounds per acre. 

Early Tomatoes and Market Garden Crops. 

Nitrate of soda 250 pounds 

Ground bone 100 pounds 

Acid phosphate 550 pounds 

Muriate of potash , , , , 100 pounds 

Apply 800 pounds per acre. 



APPENDIX 281 

Timothy Hay, Top Dressing. 

Nitrate of soda 500 pounds 

Ground bone 200 pounds 

Acid phosphate 200 pounds 

Muriate of potash 100 pounds 

Apply 200 to 300 pounds per acre. 

REFERENCE BOOKS FOR TEACHERS 

First Principles of Soil Fertility. A. Vivian ($1.00), 
Orange, Judd Co. 

Bacteria in Relation to Country Life. J. G. Lipman 
($1.50), Macmillan. 

Cereals in America. T. F. Hunt ($1.75), Orange, Judd 
Company. 

Forage and Fiber Crops in America. T. F. Hunt ($1.75), 
Orange, Judd Co. 

Manual of Gardening. L. H. Bailey ($2.00), Macmillan. 

The Principles of Fruit-growing. L. H. Bailey, ($1.50), 
]\lacmillan. 

The American Apple Orchard. F. A. Waugh ($1.00), 
Orange, Judd Co. 

The Potato. S Frazer ($1.75), Orange, Judd Co. 

Feeds and Feeding. ^Y. A. Henry ($2.00), W. A. Henry, 
Madison, Wis. 

Types and Breeds of Farm Animals. S, C. Plumb 
($2.00), Ginn and Co. 



282 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 



AGRICULTURAL BULLETINS 

Each school may secure a good library of agricultural 
bulletins at small expense. Write to the Secretary of 
Agriculture, Washington, D. C, asking that your school 
be placed on the mailing list to receive the monthly list 
of bulletins. Ask also to have sent one copy of each of 
the following : 

Circular No. 4, Division of Publications. 
Farmers' Bulletin Subject Index. 
List of Publications for free distribution. 
List of Publications for sale. 

Those pamphlets on the list for free distribution will 
be sent to any one for the asking. Those listed for sale 
may be purchased at slight cost, or perhaps some of them 
may be secured through your Congressman. Write to 
your State Experiment Station (See p. XXV) for the list 
of state bulletins for free distribution and ask to have your 
name placed on their mailing list. A few of the many 
farmers' bulletins to be obtained from the Secretary of 
Agriculture are given below. 

Horse, Nos. 170, 222 ; Cattle, 106, 71, 233 ; Milk and But- 
ter, 55, 42, 63, 251 ; Swine, 100, 133, 205, 272 ; Poultry, 51, 
186; Turkeys, Ducks, and Geese, 64, 200; Insects, 127; 
Bees, 59, 397; Birds, 54; Soils, 44, 187, 192, 245; How 
Plants Grow, 157 ; Corn, 199, 229, 253, 313, 409 ; Potato, 35 ; 
Hay, 89, 339; Orchards, 87, 113, 283; Gardens, 154, 218, 
255; Sanitation, 155. 



APPENDIX 283 

Quantity of Seed per Acre and Legal Weights per 

Bushel 



Alfalfa 


30 lbs. 


60 lbs. 


Barley 


8 to 10 pks. 


48 lbs, 


Blue Grass 


20 to 25 lbs. 


14 lbs. 


Buckwheat 


3 to 5 pks. 


48 lbs. 


Clover 


10 to 15 lbs. 


60 lbs. 


Corn, shelled, check row 


6 to 8 qts. 


56 lbs. 


Corn, ensilage 


10 qts. 




Cotton, upland 


4 to 8 pks. 


32 lbs. 


Cowpea 


4 to 7 pks. 


60 lbs. 


Oats 


2 to 3 bu. 


32 lbs. 


Potato 


6 to 18 bu. 


60 lbs. 


Rye 


3 to 8 pks. 


56 lbs. 


Timothy 


10 to 20 lbs. 


45 lbs. 


Wheat 


6 to 9 pks. 


60 lbs. 



Weights in second column vary slightly in some states. 

Distances Apart for Planting Fruit and Vegetables 

Feet Feet 

Apples 30-40 Cabbage 2-3 

Apricots 15-20 Carrot 1.5-2 

Cherries 15-25 Corn, sweet 3-3.5 

Orano-es 25-30 Celery 3-4 

Peaches 15-20 Lettuce 1-2 

Pears 20-30 Onion 1.5-2 

Plums 15-20 Parsley 1-2 

Quinces 10-12 Peas 1-3 

Blackberries 4.5-7 Potato 2.5-3 

Currants 4-4.5 Radish 1-1.5 

Gooseberries 4-4.5 Rhubarb 4 

Raspberries 3.5-5 Salsify 1.5-2 

Strawberries . . .1-4 Squash and pumpkin. . 6-8 

Asparagus 3-4 Turnip 1.5-2 

Beans, bush and pole . . 2-4 Tomato 3-4 

Beet 1.5-2 



284 ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE 

LOCATION OF STATE EXPERIMENT STATIONS 

Any letter addressed to the ''Experiment Station" with 
proper post-office address will reach the institution, 

Alabama — Auburn or Uniontown or Tuskegee. 

Arizona — Tucson. 

Arkansas — Fayetteville. 

California — Berkeley. 

Colorado — Fort Collins. 

Connecticut — New Haven or Storrs. 

Delaware — Newark. 

Florida — Gainesville. 

Georgia — Experiment. 

Hawaii — Honolulu. 

Idaho — Moscow. 

Illinois — Urbana. 

Indiana — Lafayette. 

Iowa — Ames. 

Kansas — Manhattan. 

Kentucky — Lexington. 

Louisiana — Baton Rouge. 

Maine — Orona. 

Maryland — College Park. 

Massachusetts — Amherst 

Michigan — East Lansing. 

Minnesota — St. Paul. 

Mississippi — Agricultural College. 

Missouri — Columbia or ^lountain Grove. 

Montana— Bozeman. 

Nebraska — Lincoln. 

Nevada — Reno. 

New Hampshire — Durham, 



APPENDIX 285 

New Mexico — Agricultural College. 

New York — Geneva or Ithaca. 

North Carolina — Raleigh. 

North Dakota — Agricultural College. 

Ohio — Wooster. 

Oklahoma — Stillwater. 

Oregon — Corvallis. 

Pennsylvania — State College. 

Rhode Island — Kingston. 

South Carolina — Clemson College. 

South Dakota — Brookings. 

Tennessee — Knoxville. 

Texas — College Station. 

Utah — Logan. 

Vermont — Burlington. 

Virginia — Blacksburg. 

Washington — Pullman. 

West Virginia — Morgantown. 

Wisconsin — IMadison. 

Wyoming — Laramie. 

The United States Department of Agriculture is located 
at Washington, D. C. Address the Secretary of Agri- 
culture. 



INDEX 

All figures refer to pages; heavier type is used for the 
nvore important references 



Agricultural Bulletins, see Farm- 
ers' Bulletins 

Agricultural Collegfe, see Colleges 
of Agriculture 

Alfalfa, 20; for pasture, 43, 44; 
for honey, 69; a rotating crop 
for fertilizing, 91, 94, 95, 146, 
150; soil and crops, 151; how 
to start, 151, 152; good for 
horses, 152; for other stock, 
43, 44, 152, 153; a field (Fig. 
83), 152; plant showing long 
tap-root (Fig. 84), 153; and 
corn as feed, 43, 153; quantity 
of seed per acre and legal 
weight per bushel, 283 

Anchor bend, 13 

Ants, 82 

Apples, clay soil for, 85, 173, lo- 
cation of orchards, 172; plant- 
ing trees, 173, 283; spraying, 
177, 178; from trees not spraved 
(Fig. 38), 62: from trees 
sprayed (Fig. 39), 63; thinning 
crop, 179; grading and packing, 
180; growing and use of, 180, 
181; seedless, 181 

Apricots, planting trees, 283 

Army worms, 78 

Arsenate of lead, 277 

Ash trees, seeds of, 101 

Asparagus, 194, 283 

Ayrshire cattle, 24 

Babcock milk test, 24, 27, 228, 247 

Bacteria, in soil, 85, 90, 91; and 
clover, 91; work of, 91, 92, 146, 
150; in food, 213, 214. 215; in 
butter and cider, 215; in sew- 
age, 218 

Bantams, 50 

Barley, 10, 92, 283, 142, 143; 
bread, 126; rotation and seed 
bed, 142; enemies, 143; uses, 
143 

Barns, horse, 11; cattle, 19, 221; 
ventilation, 221; a sanitary 
dairy barn (Fig. 107), 220 

Beans, 10, 191; string, 191, 192; 



butter, 192; lima, 192; bush 
and pole, 283 

Becket hitch, 12 

Beef cattle, 18 (Fig. 9), 17; uses 
made of, 28; side of, 246 

Bees, 61, 62, 64, 68-76; first sugar 
makers, 68; finding the bee 
tree, 68; honey train, 68; where 
honey comes from, 69; a prof- 
itable apiary (Fig. 44), 69; 
pollen and wax, 69, 70; mem- 
bers of the bee family, 70 — 
the worker, the queen and the 
drone (Fig. 45), 70; work of 
the queen, 71; why bees swarm, 
71, 72; stand of bees near 
swarming time (Fig. 46), 71; 
getting a new queen, 72; divid- 
ing the work, 72; drones, 73; 
Italian bees, 73; helping the 
bee, 73; honey extractor, 73, 
75; It's all in knowing how 
(Fig. 47), 74; keeping bees 
warm, 75; do not starve bees, 
75; another service, 75; busy 
as a bee, 76 

Beetles, 61, 64, 67; cucumber, 79, 
197; flea, 165; flower, 81; po- 
tato (Fig. 89), 164, 165 

Beets, 85, 189, 190, 192, 283 

Belgian, bay, 5 

Berkshires, 39 (Fig. 24), 40 

Binder, see Self-hinder 

Bindweed, 81 

Bird houses (Fig. 52), 81, 82 

Birds, 77, 260; "Birds of Killing- 
worth," 77, 78; service to 
farmers, 78; other friends of 
the farmer, 78, 79; Grosbeaks 
are friends, 79; tarring the 
seeds, 80; protecting grain 
fields, 80; the Grosbeak and 
the orchard, 80, 81; policemen 
of the air, 81; eating weed 
seeds, 81; big appetites, 81, 82; 
making friends of the birds 
(Fig. 52). 81, 82; sharing with 
the birds, 82; see also names 
of birds 



287 



288 



INDEX 



Bits, frosty, 10 

Blackberries, 198, 199, 283 

Black rot. 19.S 

Blackwall hitch, 13 

"Black weevil," see Weevil 

Blig-lit. the, 166 

Bluebirds, 78, 82 

Blue g'rass, 283 

Blue Jays, 83 

Bobolink (Fig. 49), 78, 81 

Bobwhite (Fig. 51), 80. 82 

Boll v/eevil, see Weevil 

Bone meal, 95 

Books, reference, for teachers, 281 

Bordeaux mixture, 165. 177, 178, 

192, 198; formula, 279 
Bowline, 12 
Brahnias (Fig. 30), 50 
Bread, making, 213; white, 126, 

131, 137; rye, 144, 145 
Bridle, the, 14 
"Broilers," 49. 56, 57 
Bronze turkeys (Fig. 35), 58 
Brown Swiss, 24; twin calves 

(Fig. 15), 25 
Buckwheat, 69, 283 
Bumblebees, 75 
Burdocks, 101, 168, 170 (Fig. 92). 

171 
Butter, 251; bacteria in, 215; 

churning the first, 16, 17; see 

also Milk and butter 
Butterflies, 61, 62, 64, 65 
Buttermilk, 32 



Cabbag-e, 85, 190, 191, 195, 196; a 
well cultivated cabbage lot 
(Fig. 99), 195; distances apart 
for planting, 283; maggot, 196; 
worm, 196 

Calves, 19-21; getting ready for 
market, 19, 20; feeding meal, 
20; an empty dinner pail (Fig. 
11), 20; mixed food, 20; wean- 
ing. 20; "Where are our moth- 
ers?" (Fig. 12), 21; saving 
cream, 21; Brown Swiss twin 
calves (Fig. 15), 25 

Canada Thistle, 168, (Fig. 91) 
169, 171 

Cankerworm, 78, 79, 81, 177 

Cardinal, 79, 80 

Carrick bend, 13 

Carrots, 10, 189, 193, 283 

Caterpillar, 65. 78. 79. 81 

Cattle, 16, 245; more useful than 
horses. 16; origin. 16; taming 
wild cattle, 16; churning, 16, 
17; hitching to loads. 17, 18; 
two kinds, 18; care and feed. 
18, 19; beef cattle. 18; dairy 
cows, 21-27; Babcock milk test, 



24, 247; uses of beef cattle, 28; 
how to get good stock, 28; cat- 
tle and sheep, 37; see also 
Calves, Dairy Cows, and names 
of breeds 

Cauliflower, 187 

Celery, 187. 283 

Cellars, 216, 217 

Cheese making*, 32, 33 

Cherries, 173. 283 

Cheshire (Fig. 23), 39 

Chester- White, 39, 41 (Fig. 25) 

Chickadees, 78 

Chickens, see Poultry 

Churn, the, 31, 32 

Churning-. 16, 17, 30 

Cider, 215 

Clay, soils, 84, 85; crops for, 85; 
why wet, 88, 89, 106; roads, 208 

Clove hitch, 12 

Clover, 146-150; for horses, 9; for 
calves, 20: for hogs. 43, 44, 45; 
honey, 69; in New Zealand. 75; 
bacteria and, 91, 93-95, 146; 
kinds of soil for, 147; ready to 
cut, 147, 148; careful handling, 
148: curing. 148; uses of, 148, 
149; for cattle, 149; getting a 
stand, 149; seed per acre and 
weight per bushel, 283. 

Clubs, Boys' and Girls', 229, 275 

Clydesdale horses, 5; (Fig. 5), 6 

Coach horses, 3, 4, (Fig. 2), 3 

Cochins. 50 

Cockerels, 57 

Cocoanut seed, 101 

Codling moth, 81 

Cold frames, 188 

Colleges of Agriculture, 228 ; Col- 
lege of Agriculture, Univ. of 
Wis. (Fig. 110), 227 

Colorado potato beetle, see Potato 
beetle 

Corn, 113-125, 267; for horses, 
10; for calves, 20; for hogs, 43. 
44; for chickens, 54; clay soil 
not good for, 85; grown with 
and without fertilizer (Fig. 
53), 93; as rotating crop, 94, 
95; flowers, 99; pollination of, 
99, 100; discovery of. 113; 
saves the pioneers. 113, 114; 
Indian farming, 114; where 
grown, 114; corn belt. 114, 115; 
a corn train, 115; corn land 
valuable, 115; choosing good 
seed, 115; prize ear, 115, 116, 
(Fig. 60). 116; good kernels, 
116; cobs. 116, 117; cob too 
large or too small (Fig. 61), 
116; space between kernels 
(Fig. 62), 117; when to select 
seed, 117; curing the seed, 118; 



INDEX 



289 



corn tree, 118; testing seed, 
118, 268, 269; testing seed 
corn (Fig. 63), 119; improving 
corn, 118; planting evenly, 118, 
119; making soil rich, 120; how 
to plow, 120, 121; how to keep 
ground moist. 121; planting 
crop, 121; keeping weeds down, 
122; plowing, 122; gathering 
the crop, 123; corn cutter (Fig. 
67), 123: saving it all, 124; a 
great discoverv, 124; building 
silos, 124, 125; filling the silo 
(Fig. 68), 124j corn a treasure, 
125; with alfalfa as feed, 153; 
fertilizer, 279; ensilage, seed 
per acre, 283; shelled, check 
row, seed per acre, 283. 

Corn, sweet, see Sweet corn 

Corn meal, 21 

Corn stover, 124 

Cottag-e cheese, 32 

Cow, diagram of, 245 

Cow testing" assn's, 27, 28 

Cowpeas, 20, 153; bacteria and, 
91, 94, 146; a rotating crop, 94, 
95, 155; seed per acre and legal 
weight per bushel, 283 

Cradle (Fig. 71), 130; cutting 
wheat with a (Fig. 72), 131; 
Scythe or, 132 

Cream separator, 30, 31; the old 
way (Fig. 18), 31; the new way 
(Fig. 19), 31 

Creepers, 7 8 

Crops, farm, 84-200 

Crows, 83 

Cucumber beetles, 79, 197 

Cucumbers, 187, 196, 197 

Curculio, depositing egg on 
young peach (Fig. 40), 64; 
young grub destroying fruit 
(Fig. 41), 64 

Currants, 283; dried, 198 

Dairy cows, 18, 21-27; choosing a 
good cow, 21; Jersey type, 22, 
23; Guernseys, 23, 24; Holstein, 
24; Babcock test, 24; what a 
good cow produces, 24; Caring 
for the dairy cow, 25; their 
food, 25, 26; testing cows, 26- 
28; "A row of money makers" 
(Fig. 16), 26; how to get good 
stock, 28; see also name of 
breeds 

Dandelion seed, 101, 168 

Diphtheria, 220 

Draft horses, 3 ; kinds of, 4, 5 

Drag-on flies, 61 

Drainag'e, importance of, 89; how 
to drain swampy land, 90; how 
drainage helps, 90; map of tile 



lines, 90; importance in road 

making, 207, 208 
Drill, wheat (Fig. 70), 129 
Dry farming", 107 
Ducks, 59; i'ekin (Fig. 36), 59 
Duroc-Jersey hog-s, 39, 41, 43 
Dutch belted, 2 4 

Earthworms, 78 

Eg-g- plants, 187, 189 

Egg"s, hen's, 49-51; duck's, 59 

Exercises, 241-275 

Experiment Stations, 227, 284 

Experiments, 241-275 

False reef or granny, 12 

Farm animals, 1-83 

Farm machinery, 103, 266; mak- 
ing machinery better, 108; cop- 
per tools, 108-109; first iron 
tools, 109, 110; farm machinery 
of today, 110, 111; tractor en- 
gine drawing four plows (Fig. 
58), 110; care of machinery, 
111, 112; gas engine, a labor 
saver (Fig. 59), 111; see also 
names of farm machinery. 

Farm sanitation, see Sanitation, 
farm 

Farmers' bulletins, 47, 48, 226, 
282 

Farmer's Colleg-e, 225-228; edu- 
cating the farmer, 225; learn- 
ing the best way, 225, 226; ex- 
periment stations, 227, 284; 
colleges of agriculture, 228 

Fertilizers for different crops, 
27 9-281 

Fertilizingr, 91-95; best and 
cheapest fertilizer (Fig. 54), 
103, 104; old way of spreading 
(Fig. 64), 120; manure should 
be spread evenlv (Fig. 65), 
121; corn, 120; wheat, 130; hay 
crops, 146-153; sugar beets, 
156; tobacco, 160; gardens, 184 

Flicker, 82 

Flies, 64, 65, 67, 79, 83, 216, 219; 
as disease carriers, 219; fight- 
ing, 219, 220 

Fly catchers, 78 

Food, preserving, see Preserving- 
foods 

Formaline solution, 166 

Fruit, 172-181, 274; canning, 214; 
preserving, 215 

Fruit trees, distances apart for 
planting, 283 

Fung-icides, insecticides and, 277- 
279 

Galloway, 18; cow (Fig. 10), 19 
Garden, the farm 182-200; the 



290 



INDEX 



boy's garden, 182 — beautiful as 
well as profitable (Fig. 98), 
185; a school garden (Fig. 97), 
183; gardens everywhere, 182- 
183; location and soil 183; fer- 
tilizing, 184, 280 ; preparation, 
184, 185; tools, 185; mulch, 186; 
planting, 186, 187; transplant- 
ing, 187; window box, 187; hot- 
beds, 188; cold frames, 188; 
preparing for transplanting, 
189; transplanting, 189; ro- 
tating crops, 189, 190; plant- 
ing between rows, 190; weeds, 
190; mulching, 190; see also 
names of vegetables and 
fruits. 

Geese, 59, 60; Christmas bird, 
59 (Fig. 37), 60 

Gnats, 83 

Gooseberries, 283 

Grafting-, 102 

Grapes, 85, 177. 197, 198 

Grapevines, 102, 198 

Grasshoppers, 49, 58. 61, 78, 82 

"Greens," 194 

Grosbeaks, 79-81 

Grubs, 193 

Guernseys, 18, 23, 24 

"Halter-break," 11 
Hansom cab, 7 

Harrow, disk or spring tooth, 121 
(Fig. 66), 122 

Harvesters, combined, 135, 136; 
steam, 136, 137 

Hawks, chiclven, 57, 83 

Hay, 9, 85, 146-153; timothy, 146 
(Fig. 78), 14 7; the clovers, 146, 
150; alfalfa, 150-153; hay load- 
er (Fig. 81), 150; stacking hay 
(Fig. 82), 151; cowpeas, 153 

Header, the, 133 

Herefords, 18 

Hogrs, see Swine 

Holsteins, 18, 24; a record cow 
(Fig. 14), 23 

Horse, the, 1, 241; taming the 
wild, 1; variety in size, 1; 
horse's foot, 1, 2; riding horse- 
back, 2; first work animal, 2; 
the horse and the Indian, 2; 
draft horses, 3-5; coach and 
roadsters, 3, 4; how to hitch, 
5, 6; driving fast, 6, 7; race 
horses, 7; horses as food, 8; 
proportion of, to people, 8; 
horse power cheap, 8; cheaper 
than human labor (Fig. 82), 
151; feeding, 8, 9; good variety, 
9, 10; cleaning and care, 10; 
healthy shoulders, 10, 11; 
stable, 11; shoeing, 11; break- 



ing colts, 11, 14; his first 
bridle, 14; driving the colt, 14; 
signals, 14, 15; kindness pays, 
15; see also names of breeds 

Horse-radish, 193 

Hotbeds, 187, 188 

Humus, 87, 88, 94, 149 

Indian farming", 114 

Insecticides and fungicides, 277- 
279 

Insects, 61-67; enemies, 61; 
friends, 61; parts of insects, 
61; biting insects, 61, 62; suck- 
ing insects, 62; contact in- 
secticides, 62; moulting, 63, 64; 
stages of development, 64, 65; 
larva stage, 65; pupa stage, 65, 
67; freezing the insect, 67; in- 
sect life short, 67; see also 
names of insects. 

Irrig-ation, 107, 108; private irri- 
gation plant (Fig. 56), 108; ir- 
rigating an orchard (Fig. 93), 
174 

Jerseys, 18. 22, 23, 24; the dairy 

type (Fig. 13), 22 
June-berry trees, 80 
June bug- (Fig. 42), 65 

Kerosene emulsion, 63, 278 
King-birds, 78 

Knots that every farmer should 
know (Fig. 8), 12, 13 

Leaf -blight, 192 

Zieghorns, 50 

Legumes, 147, 150. 153, 214 

Lettuce, 187, 190, 196, 283 

Lime-sulphur, 279 

Linseed meal, 21 

Loam, 85 

Macaroni, 137 

Manure, as fertilizer, 95, 160, 
184; the best and cheapest fer- 
tilizer (Fig. 54), 103, 104; old 
and new ways of spreading 
(Figs. 64, 65), 120, 121 

Maple trees, 101 

Martins, 82 

May beetle, see June bug" 

Meadow lark (Fig. 50), 79, 81 

Meadow mice, 79 

Meal, as calf feed, 20, 21 

Melons, 196; muskmelons, 197 

Merinos, 36-38; merino ram (Fig. 
21), 36 

Milch cows, see Dairy cows 

Mildew, 177, 191, 198 

Milk and butter, 29, 251; milk as 



INDEX 



291 



food, 29; keeping milk pure 
and clean, 29; milking the 
cows, 29, 30; butter-fat, 24, 27, 
30; ready to churn, 30; churn- 
ing, 30; preparing butter for 
market, 30, 31; the churn, 31, 
32; cheese making, 32; by- 
products, 32, 33; souring of 
milk, 215; milk a germ carrier, 
220, 221 

Milk sugrar, 32 

Milk test, Babcock, 24, 27, 228, 
247 

Minorcas, 50 

Mold, 213, 214 

Moles, 79 

Mosquitoes, 61, 64, 67, 79, 216, 
218, 219 

"Mother of vineg-ar," 215 

Moths, 64, 79, 196 

Mulberry trees, 80, 82 

Mustard, 196 

Nig-hthawks, 79, 82 

Nitrog-en, 91-93, 95, 146, 160, 184 
Nuthatches, 78 

Oats, 9, 10, 20, 85, 87, 92, 94, 98, 
138-142, 271; a heavy crop 
(Fig. 76), 140; climate and soil, 
138; preparing seed, 138; test- 
ing, and easy sowing, 139; 
seed bed, 140; moisture need- 
ed, 139; rotation, 141; harvest- 
ing, 141; uses, 142; fertilizer, 
280; seed per acre and legal 
weight per bushel, 283 

Oil meal, 20 

Onions, 18 7, 197, 2 83 

Orang-es, 283 

Orchards, 172-181, 274; helping 
one another, 172; keeping near 
market or railroad, 172; hill 
lands for orchards, 172; the 
best slope, 172; influence of 
water, 173; kinds of soil for 
fruit, 173; preparation of fruit 
land, 173; planting trees, 173; 
setting trees, 174; irrigating 
(Fig. 93), 174; packing about 
the roots, 175; tilling orchards, 
175; crop betw^een trees (Fig. 
94), 175; injury to trees, 176; 
pruning, 176; spraying, 176, 
177; Bordeaux mixture, 177; 
spraying machines, 178; spray- 
ing outfit (Fig. 95), 179; 
spraying (Fig. 96), 181; thin- 
ning fruit, 178-180; harvesting 
fruit, 180; peaches, 180; apples, 
180, 181 

Orioles, 82 

Owls, 79 



Paris-g-reen, 165, 177, 178, 196, 
278 

Parsley, 283 

Parsnips, 193 

Peaches, 172, 174, 177, 178, 180. 
283 

Pears, 85, 173. 174, 177, 179, 283 

Peas, 10, 79, 187, 190, 191, 283 

Peppers, 187 

Percheron, 5; Percheron stallion 
(Fig. 3), 4; prize six-horse 
team (Fig. 4), 5. 

Phosphorus, 93, 95 

Picket rope with a half-granny 
and half-hitch, 12 

Pistil, the, 98, 99 

Plants and how they grow, 96, 
265; learning about plants, 96; 
dividing their work, 96; roots 
and their work, 96, 97; the 
stem, 97; leaves, 97, 98; flovrer, 
98; seed, 98; father and moth- 
er, 98; corn flowers, 99; carry- 
ing the pollen, 99; night work- 
ers, 99, 100; pollen from other 
plants, 100; kinds of plants, 
100; why different, 100, 101; 
interesting habit, 101; scatter- 
ing their seed, 101, 102; how 
man helps, 102 

Plow, the first, 18; how to plow, 
120, 121; plowing corn, 122 

Plums, 173, 174, 283 

Plymouth rocks, barred (Fig. 
31), 51; white (Fig. 32), 52 

Poland China, 39, 42 (Fig. 26), 

Pollination, 98, 99; carrying pol- 
len, 75, 99; night workers, 99, 
100; pollen from other plants, 
100 

Pop corn, 122 

Potash, 160, 184 

Potato beetle, 79, 165, 177; at 
work on plant (Fig. 89), 164 

Potatoes, Irish, 161-167, 272; 
food for chickens, 54; clay soil 
not good for, 85; in rotation, 
94, 190; early home, 161; in 
Ireland, 161; widely grown 
crop, 161; a tuber, 161, 162; 
standard varieties (Fig. 88), 
162; kinds of seed, 162, 163; 
eyes, 102, 163; cutting seed, 
163; how to choose seed, 163- 
165; climate and soil, 165; 
cultivation, 165; insect en- 
emies, 165; potato bug (Fig. 
89). 164; scab, 165, 166; blight, 
166; harvesting, 166, 167; field, 
yielding 350 bushels per acre 
(Fig. 90), 166; mulching for, 
191; fertilizer, 280; seed per 



292 



INDEX 



acre and legral weight per 
bushel, 2S3; planting, 283 
Potatoes, sweet, 167 

Poultry, 49, 257; original home, 
49; value to farmer, 49; eggs, 
41t-51, 54; four classes, 50; 
Cochins, 50; Brahmas (Fig. 
30), 50; Leghorns, 50; Minor- 
cas, 50; Bantams, 50; general- 
purpose fowls, 50, 51; Ply- 
mouth Rocks (Fig. 31), 51; 
(Fig. 32), 52; Wyandottes, 51; 
Rhode Island Reds, 51; hab- 
its, 51; nests, 51, 52; in pens, 
53; care of henhouse, 53; sani- 
tary poultry house (Fig. 33), 
55; laying hens, 53, 54; hatch- 
ing little chicks, 54; how to 
care for the brood, 54, 55; 
chicken lice, 55 ; brooder 
chicks, 55, 56; incubator babies 
(Fig. 34), 56; fattening broil- 
ers, 56, 57; poultry pests, 57 

Preserving- foods, 213-215; germs 
which help and hinder, 213; 
veast plant, 213; making- 
bread, 213; mold, 213, 214; 
canning fruit, 214; bacteria, 
214; smoking meats, 214, 215; 
cold storage, 215; preserving 
fruits, 215; souring of milk, 
215 

Problems, 241-275 

Prunes, 178 

Puddling-, 209 

Pumpkins, 283 



Quail, see Bobwhite 
Quinces, 283 

Radishes, 96, 187, 190, 193, 283 

Rag-weed, 81, 168 

Raisins, 198 

Rakes, hand-dump (Fig. 79), 148; 

self-dump (Fig. 80), 149 
Raspberries, 198, 199, 283 
Rats, 57, 79 
Reap hook, 127, 132; ancient tool 

for reaping grain (Fig. 69), 

127 
Reaper, 133, 134; the first (Fig. 

73), 134 
Red-bird, see Cardinal 
Red-headed Woodpecker (Fig. 

48). 77, 78 
Red rust, 199 

Reef knot or square knot, 12 
Rhode Island Reds, 51 
Rhubarb, 283 
Rice, 12 6, 157, 161; growing, 158; 

products and enemies, 158, 159 
Rice-stalk borer, 159 



Roads, country, 201-212; im- 
portance of good roads, 201; 
sociability encouraged, 201; 
good roads and schools, 201, 
202; city people interested, 
202; marketing farm produce, 
202; fine public roads raise 
value of farm lands (Fig. 101), 
203; first expert road builders, 
204; roads abroad and at home, 
204; plantation mud pikes, 
204, 205; early roads, 235; toll 
roads, 205, 206; working out 
road tax, 206; every township 
should own a steam roller 
(Fig. 103), 206; a better way, 
206, 207; state's part, 207; 
drainage, 207, 208; grading and 
draining are essential to good 
roads (Fig. 104), 207; grading, 
208; grading a country road 
(F'ig. 105), 210; surfacing clay 
roads, 208; sand roads, 208; 
loam roads, 208, 209; split-log 
drag, 209; other aids to good 
roads, 209; gravel and shell 
surfacing, 209, 210; stone 
roads, 210; Roman roads, 210; 
macadam, 210, 211; brick, 212; 
a brick road needs little care 
and repair and brings the mar- 
ket nearer (Fig. 102), 205; lay- 
ing a brick road (Fig. 106), 
211; draft on different sur- 
faces, 212 

Robins, 78 

Rock phosphate, 95 

Rotation of crops, 92, 93; good 
reasons for, 93, 94; weeds 
checked by, 93, 170; in the 
north, 94; in potato states, 94; 
for cotton, 94; for corn, 94, 120 

"Royal jelly," 72 

Rust, 131 

Rye, 92, 113, 115, 126. 143-145, 
283; an old crop, 144; as pas- 
ture, 144; enemies, 145; at- 
tacked by ergot (Fig. 77), 144; 
uses, 145 

Salsify, 193, 283 

Sanitation, farm, 216-224; loca- 
tion of farmhouse, 216; dry 
surroundings, 216; shade, 217; 
water supply, 217; sewage a 
source of disease, 217, 218; 
river water, 218; mosquitoes, 
218, 219; house fly, 219, 220; 
milk a germ carrier, 220, 221; 
ventilating the barn, 221; cold 
air heavier than warm, 221; 
home ventilation, 221, 222; 
school ventilation, 222, 223; a 



INDEX 



293 



well-ventilated country school 
(Fig. 108), 222; school light- 
ing, 223; the first top-lighted 
school (Fig. 109), 224 

Scab, the, 165, 166 

Scale insects, 79, 178; black olive 
scales, 81; San Jose, 279 

School lighting-, 223; first top- 
lighted school (Fig. 109), 224 

School ventilation, 222, 223; a 
well-ventilated country school 
(Fig. 108), 222 

Seed, 98; how some plants scat- 
ter, 101; quantity of, per acre, 
283 

Self-binder, 134, 135; modern 
binder (Fig. 74), 135 

Sewag-e, 217, 218 

Shade, 217; every farm needs its 
shade and water easily acces- 
sible (Fig. 1), frontispiece. 

Sheep, 34, 253; wild, 34; taming, 
34; where sheep live, 35; use 
of, 35, 36; for wool or mutton, 
36; Merinos, 36-38; Merino ram 
(Fig. 21), 36; cattle and sheep, 
37; for mutton, 38; Shrop- 
shires, 38; Southdowns, 38; 
dogs and sheep, 37, 38; see also 
names of sheep 

Shepherd dog, 37, 38 

Shire, the, 5 

Shoeing the horse, 11 

Shorthorns, 18 (Figs. 9 and 17), 
17, 27 

Shropshires, 38; ram (Fig. 22), 
37 

Sickle, see Reap hook 

Silkworms, 61, 65 

Silos, 124; building, 125; filling 
the silo (Fig. 68), 124 

Slip knot, running noose or hal- 
ter knot, 12 

Smartweed, 81 

Smut, 131 

Soil, 84, 262; what they do, 84; 
light, 84; heavy, 84, 85; crops 
for clay, 85; loam, 85; what the 
soil contains, 85; plant food, 
86, 87; humus, 87-88; soil and 
surface water, 88; why clay 
soils are wet, 88, 89; holding 
water for plants, 89; impor- 
tance of drainage, 89; good 
soil contains air, 89, 90; how 
to drain swampy land, 90; 
farmer's bacteria friends, 91; 
bacteria and clover, 91; grow- 
ing several crops, 92; not too 
many crops, 92; rotation of 
crops, 92, 94; phosphorus a 
plant food. 95; keeping up the 
land, 95 ^ 



Southdowns, 38 

Soy beans, 91, 146 

Sparrows, 82, 83 ; tree, 81 

Spinach, 190 

Spraying, 176, 177; apples (Figs. 
38, 39), 62, 63; outfit for the 
orchard (Fig. 95), 179 ; the 
successful orchardist always 
sprays (Pig. 96), 181 

Squashes, 113, 187, 190, 196, 283 

Stable, see Barns 

Stains, how to remove, 276 

Stamen, the, 98, 9^ 

Starch, 125, 137 

Sterilizing, 214 

Stick tights, 101 

"Stink bug," 197 

Strawberries, 172, 199, 200; noth- 
ing so fine as home-grown 
strawberries (Fig. 100), 199; 
283 

Sugar beets, 155-157; how dis- 
covered, 155; a field (Fig. 85), 
156; preparation and soil, 156, 
157; harvesting, 157 

Sugar cane, 154-155; planting, 
1U2, 154, 155; harvesting 155 

Swallows, 78, 83 

Sweet corn, 190, 194, 195, 283 

Swine, 39-48, 255; improving 
hogs, 39; best breeds, 39; 
Cheshire, 39, pig (Fig. 23), 
39; bacon type, 40; lard type, 
40; Berkshires, 40; Berkshires 
on clover (Fig. 24), 40; Ches- 
ter-whites, 41; sows and pigs 
(Fig. 25), 41; Duroc-Jerseys, 
41; Poland-Chinas, 42; a prize 
(Fig. 26), 42; feeding, 43-44; 
rooting, 44; yards, 45; fencing, 
45; sheds and shelter, 45; 
houses, 46; diseases, 47, 48 

Swiss chard, 194 

Tillage, 103-111; sowing and 
reaping in olden times, 103; 
wearing out the soil, 104; 
Jethro Tull, 104; fields in poor 
and good tilth (Figs. 55a, 55b), 
105; feeding plants, 105, 106; 
keeping moisture in the soil, 
106; dust mulch, 106, 107; dry 
farming, 107 

Timber hitch, 13 

Timothy, 9, 87, 94, 124, (Fig. 77) 
144, (Fig. 78) 147, 281, 283 

Tobacco, 113, 159, 160; a heavy 
crop and drying barn (Fig. 86), 
158; drying and curing (Fig. 
87), 159; fertilizer, 160; cur- 
ing, 160 

Tomatoes, 187, 189. 190, 191, 197, 
280, 283 



294 



INDEX 



Trotting" horse, American (Fig. 

G), 7; mares and colt (Fig. 7), 

9 
Tuberculosis, 220, 221 
TuU, Jethro, 104 
Turkeys, 58-59; bronze (Fig. 35), 

58 
Turnips, 10, 54, 85, 190, 192, 193, 

196, 283 
Typhoid, 217, 218, 220 

Urus, the, 16 

Vegretable oyster, see Salsify 
Vegretahles, distances apart for 

planting, 283; see also names 

of vegetables 
Ventilation, see Sanitation 
Vineg-ar, 215 

Warblers, 78 

Wasps, 61. 64 

Water supply, 217; river water, 
218 

Weavers' knot or sheet bend, 13 

Weeds, 168-173; birds as destroy- 
ers, 81; rotation for, 93, 170; 
annuals, biennials, and peren- 
nials, 168; fighting the weeds, 
169, 170; for drugs, 171; in the 
garden, 190; see also names of 
weeds 

Weevil, bean, 192; "black," 159; 
cotton boll (Fig. 43), 66; pea. 
191, 192 



Weig-hts per bushel, legal, 283 
Wheat, 92, 95, 115, 126-137, 270; 

for calves, 20; for chickens, 
54; on clay soil, 85; composi- 
tion of,87; white bread, 126; 
first wheat farmers, 126; • in 
Asia, 126; in America, 127; 
world's crop. 127, 128; vari- 
eties, 128; climate, 128; pre- 
paring soil, 128; sowing, 128; 
cultivation, 129; drill (Fig. 
70), 129; in Japan, 129; cradle 
(Figs. 71, 72), 130, 131, 132; 
in rotation, 94, 130; enemies, 
130, 131; harvest, 131; sickle, 
132; (Fig. 69), 127; animal 
power, 132; header, 132, 133; 
reaper, 133, 134; the first (Fig. 
73), 134; self-binding, 134, 
135; modern binder (Fig. 74), 
135; combined harvesters, 135, 
136; shocks of golden grain 
(Fig. 75), 136; steam harvest- 
ers, 136, 137; how much we 
eat, 137; other uses, 137; fer- 
tilizer, 280; seed per acre and 
legal weight per bushel, 283 

Whey, 32 

Window box, 187 

Woodpecker, see Bed - headed 
Woodpecker 

Wren, 82 

Wyandottes, 51 

Yeast, 213 



UBRARY OF CONGRESS 




